It was all about shake, rattle and roll last night. Nearby Hollis Center was the epicenter for a 4.0 magnitude earthquake, that was felt throughout the New England states and as far away as western New York. We don't get or feel them often, as a matter of fact the only other one I ever felt in my life was back about 25 years, while I was watching Monday Night Football. Back then, I grabbed a flashlight and headed outside, because I thought for sure a back wall of the house had come tumbling down. It was about a 5 second rumble. Last night was different. It started as a long, large rumble building to a BIG thump with a constant shaking sensation. At first I thought it was one of the large cattle trucks passing the house. When they are empty and pass by, there is a long, continuous crashing, thundering sound as they approach and then pass. I was sitting in the den and after about 3 seconds I called to Elenka in the kitchen, "It's an earthquake!" I believe, from starting bang to finishing roll, it was about 15-20 seconds in duration. I went to the kitchen and stood in the middle of the room and rode out the final, distant roll of thunder. They say it sounds like a freight train a comin', and I must say that was just what it sounded like, with the train coming right through the house. At a nearby soccer game, news reports say the bleachers shook and fans scrambled wildly and you could actually make out a landroll as it moved across the field. That must have been something to witness. My photo today is a reminder of that scene at the train tracks in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Richard Dreyfuss was in the cab of his pickup and things were a 'shaken all over'. A bit what we experienced last evening at 7:12 PM.
Yessirreeee....The rumbling was disconcerting enough, never ending, but it's the huge 'thump' in the middle of the event that has stayed with me. It was as if the house rolled over a cow or something and then crashed down. I can't even imagine what the actual ground was doing under this house to cause that thump.
ReplyDeleteI didn't care for the experience.....at all.
Having lived in California, I have experienced a few tremors, but it was here in Belgrade when I heard my biggest boom and the bed bounced. My husband had the habit of coming to bed late, and I thought he'd crashed into the bed.
ReplyDelete....eerie.
ReplyDeleteI know that an experience of an earthquake one never forgets (even when it lasts only a few seconds)...
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a scary experience. Hope you weren't abducted by space aliens after the quake. Love your photo of the weathered railroad crossing sign.
ReplyDeleteRock~n~Roll Birdman.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, there has been so much debate news on the radio this morning, I didn't hear about this at all. I've only experienced this once in my life and it was when I was living in Illinois. It was a very rare earthquake in the midwest and it felt like the house was going to crumble. We've had some minor ones here in Arizona but, I've never felt them. There was one in Italy when I was there back in May and I slept right through it.
ReplyDeleteThis is very scary and disconcerting, what you both write. A disturbing reminder that the foundations on which we sit are not all that firm.
ReplyDeleteWas anyone/any thing hurt?
Israel is having a nation-wide earthquake drill next Sunday, with a scenario of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. Our last big one was in 1927.
Good luck to New England. May this be your last shaking for many years to come.
That was a very big earthquake.
ReplyDeletewow. i've never felt one (although they're getting closer here all the time due to the gas fracking going on...)
ReplyDeleteNatural events can be exciting as long as they don't cause any disastrous results. And, as TexWisGirl comments, they are not man made as a side effect of gas fracking in Texas. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteThat must have been scary. Here we have tornadoes and they are said to sound "Like a freight train" but with a southern accent.
ReplyDeleteV
We are shaking more often around this part of the world.
ReplyDeleteCostas
Actually, I'm glad to read about this because it had seemed, up until now, that nothing rattled you. Now I find that you're human, just like the rest of us and that is somehow comforting! :-)
ReplyDeleteSomething rattled me last night... for sure.
DeleteWe had a very small one roll through here 2 years ago and it was very spooky especially when you are in an old building! Glad everything is okay with you.
ReplyDeleteYou rock!
ReplyDeleteI heard about the "shake up" as the new put it in this mornings news. First thing I thought was Oh I wonder what Birdman did now.
ReplyDeleteGrin! Too funny!
Deletebeen thinking about you. we felt it here, too, though it must have been nothing compared to what you and E experienced.
ReplyDeleteMust have been a fascinating experience!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness nothing other than what you've written about happened to y'all. I figured when I read the announcement of the earthquake on Google News that you'd felt it! I've felt two teensy ones here, very short, but enough to make themselves known to this Mississippian as earthquakes.
ReplyDeleteI believe that you two will be thoroughly smitten with "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."
Glad it was only a 4.0. We got some shaking here in Quincy as well! The strange thing was that the dog didn't budge through it. I really like the well-seasoned RR signal.
ReplyDeleteWe got something here a few days ago, but it was obviously unrelated...
ReplyDeleteScary stuff Birdman.
ReplyDeleteWe thought it was a big truck rolling down the street at first, then a train rolling through the house...After 5 seconds I knew...it ended before we had time to be scared, but I don't remember the thump...It brought a group of neighbors out onto the street after for a spontaneous block party of sorts...a friend says to turn to Poseidon for protection, God of Earthquakes & Sea...We turned to Google to look up the status of plates & faults in Maine...consensus is, not to worry...
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing shot of a railroad, Birdman! Can you tell me were you took that photo at "My webpage?"
ReplyDelete