I'm sure you've heard about this already, but there was an earthquake that affected the East Coast of the country today. We did feel it here in D.C.
I have to say, a ton of people on twitter and facebook were mocking the reaction to the earthquake- especially in D.C. and I am a little bit put-off by that. Perhaps its because I did not grow up in an area that frequently experienced earthquakes, but they are just not something that I am used to or prepared for. Today was my first earthquake. And it was scary as hell.
Perhaps you think I'm being dramatic, but it was scary for me.
I also want to say that when you work in a government building in downtown D.C. and feel the building start to shake, your first thought is probably not "earthquake." That may be sad or overly-dramatic or whatever, but it is true and multiple people mentioned today that they had the same reaction. The last thing I thought was happening was an earthquake. When people in the room with me started yelling to yell for the stairs and evacuate, I still thought "WHY??? We don't know what's out there!" Clearly my brain had not skipped to the "earthquake" conclusion.
This link has a video of the White House and the Capitol during the earthquake. In the White House clip, you can see the Secret Service agents on the roof walking around. But do you also notice the guys doing maintenance work in the lift thing? I have a terrible fear of heights and I can't imagine being high up in that little crane box shaking like that! Just the thought makes me feel queasy.
Here is a link to FEMA's advice about what to do during an earthquake. I was absolutely not prepared for what happened today and I plan to read up on earthquake preparedness so that I'm not so reliant on other people's actions if this happens again.
I'm so thankful that everything and everyone was okay today. I know that the reaction here on the East Coast might have been overblown (honestly name one thing the media doesn't overreact to these days), but earthquakes are scary and this could have been way worse. Thank God that it wasn't.
i know- it was nuts and i didn't know what to do either! i ran outside with emmy.
ReplyDeleteWell I have been through earthquakes before and this freaked me out too! I thought someone was in my house and it took a bit for me to realize what was happening. Afterwards I was shaken up because if it had been worse I wouldn't have known what to do. So I also looked at FEMA's website and am trying to brush up on my earthquake preparedness.
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