Earthquake!

Did you feel it? I was working away here at around 1:50 pm (seriously, I checked my watch) when my desk & chair started swaying a bit. I thought there was something wrong with me, so I was (sort of) relieved to see the news a while later announcing that it was indeed an earthquake. No damage here at the house (it was about 20-30 seconds of some disconcertingly unstable ground), or in our area generally, and apparently (at least from what I've read so far) no big damage elsewhere.

But yikes!

Update a few hours later. I've heard from Brendan & Jennifer in Germantown, Maryland, and both of them were sent home from work after the quake. Luke apparently slept through the whole thing while napping at daycare. Florrie and Vonnie had some scary moments (at work in a school and a hospital, respectively) but everyone is fine. Still, it's a scary thing, all this shaking.

Apparently the National Cathedral sustained some damage, and it's not clear how much other not-quite-visible but serious damage may have occurred. Need a reminder? Here's what FEMA says to do in an earthquake. Also, there's some pretty interesting info from the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) on earthquakes. No doubt our West Coast readers will laugh at our puny earthquake. I just read on the Washington Post that there were some aftershocks -- "A 2.8 magnitude aftershock was reported at 2:46 p.m., and a 2.2 aftershock at 3:20 p.m."

Stay safe out there, friends.