Thursday, August 5, 2010

DID YOU FEEL THE EARTH MOVE?

We finished dinner early yesterday.  DH was in his favorite chair in the living room reading the paper, and I FINALLY had some time carved out for watercolor fun. I was sitting quietly at my desk with all my stuff at the ready when…everything shook.  It felt like something large had run into our house.
My bowl of watercolor water rippled,
 (reenactment of the water waves)
and the strings on the blinds were swaying.  It only lasted a few seconds.
I walked in and asked DH if he felt the house rattle.  “Yeah, I just thought it was someone in the attic.”  No one was in the attic.  Who would be in the attic?  I even went up and checked.


The local television news reported a magnitude 4.8 earthquake about 170 miles away in eastern WyomingThe Star Valley Independent stated--The earthquake was located 3.1 miles beneath the surface with an epicenter 20 miles east-northeast of Jackson and 40 miles west of Dubois. 
The Billings Gazette said--There were no reports of damage or injuries… At Flat Creek Ranch, people saw rocks roll off the top of Sleeping Indian, also known as Sheep Mountain, ranch owner Joe Albright said. Guests had been entertained at lunch by a member of Geologists of Jackson Hole, who talked about earthquakes, Albright said.
"A few hours later, here this damn thing comes," he added.


In 1983 a magnitude 7.3 quake hit near Borah Peak, about 170 miles west of here.  Our house rocked, things fell off shelves and the dining room light fixture danced on its chain.  Two deaths and major damage to buildings were reported near the epicenter. 
Around here earthquakes are mostly chalked up as one more tick of the clock that measures when the Yellowstone Caldera blows us all into oblivion.

12 comments:

  1. Reminds me of the apocryphal newspaper headline 'Small earthquake in Chile, not many dead' (Thankfully none dead in your case) We had a very small quake a while back (Very unusual round here) I woke thinking the cat had jumped on the bed and felt a bit spooked when he wasn't there.

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  2. I saw that on the news this morning and I wondered about you. I'm glad you are all safe!!!!

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

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  3. Wow!!!
    This is amazing.
    Hope all is well with you all?

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  4. I thought that bowl was full of lime jello and you were going to paint with it at first...When Yellowstone blows everyone goes! The end, bye bye.

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  5. Wow!

    The boys and I were all on top of Mt. St. Helens the day before yesterday. The living moving earth was all we were thinking about.

    We are home now, but I have to go again tomorrow.

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  6. Laughed reading your link about the Yellowstone Caldera blowing you all into oblivion Leenie- for something not so funny, you've made it very amusing. If you thought with this earthquake incident that something had run into your house, and husband on the other hand thought someone was in the attic,I'm just wondering about what kind of quiet souls are usually in your attic.Glad it was not too serious and none was hurt.
    We had an earthquake in Adelaide in 1953.My mother said the mantle clock fell on my head. Explains a lot.

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  7. Don't feel bad..I'm sitting on a live one here! Its easy to forget about? They can get you worked up though. My blog is ok now but think my resent post (comments) are disabled..(Not 2 pt of the drought. So much action around here today I'm too pooped to monkey with it.

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  8. When we lived in Indonesia, we slept through Anak Krakatoa having a (very small)eruption!

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  9. Scary. I do not think I would like to feel an earthquake, not even if I am 170 miles away. I wonder how you did the reenactment?
    Eeek - the word verification is "waring" - a bit too close to "warning" for my liking. I hope there is not another one on the way!

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  10. Anairam: Reenactment was easy. Pound on the table and shoot pictures of the water in the bowl until one looked good to me. Glad no one came in to ask what I was doing.

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  11. I was in an earthquake in the mid-70s in California--unbeknownst to me. I just thought it was a truck rolling by on the street.
    I hope you're in Europe when the caldera blows. :)

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  12. Hope there's no repeat performance for you!

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