Like the aftershocks following a good Taco Bell dinner: random, smaller in size as time goes on yet more energy released.
I think I understand (been a midwesterner my whole life) thanks.
Please forgive me, but . . . but . . .
precision
Depending on how far you are from the epicenter, an earthquake will feel differently. The closer you are to the epicenter the sharper the jolt. The further away you are the more “rolling” or sinusoidal it becomes. This of course varies depending on local geographical conditions. Out here in California, we always speculate about how far away the epicenter was by the “feel” of the earthquake.
My cockatiels reacted as well and were my clue, but I didn’t get up right away because most of the time if they make noise at night, they calm down better on their own. The last time they freaked out like that where they wouldn’t stop until I went in there, it was because one of the snakes had escaped and gone into their cage to drink their water (it was a baby corn snake - way too small to eat one of the birds). I thought the same thing had happened again, so I finally got up to catch the snake, but couldn’t find a snake in their cage. I wondered what the heck had bothered them. It wasn’t until I heard the news and put two and two together - because I had checked the clock and it was 4:38 when I walked past to “snake wrangle”. But it is no wonder I slept through the shaking - we had at least 11 animals in bed with us last night (with a combined weight of 50 pounds - 5 chihuahuas, 1 mini dachshund, and 5 chihuahua puppies) and I have learned to sleep through their tossing and turning as much as possible. The dogs had barked some, but I figured it was at the birds. Having a sinus infection and taking related medications were certainly another factor. But I am disappointed I missed it… I have never felt an earthquake before.
No, thank you. I knew what I was typing wasn’t right, but my brain was not cooperating with my instinct. I couldn’t pull the right word out, so I just gave up. At least you got my drift. 
:o
I felt it. I was watching Less Than Zero and at the exact moment that Andrew McCarthy’s character hit James Spader’s mustachioed gay goon with that big piece of glass or whatever it was during the fight at the party, I felt the whole house shake. I was wondering what the fuck that was.
5.2? 5.2? Pfft. Weenies.
(Seriously, I thought the reports on the New Madrid Fault were being taken seriously…are they not even being reported out there?)
huh, weird sound y’all say. that would explain my cuz’s hounds going off 2 minutes before the shaking. they are in northern il.
a 2 minute warning is nice.
At the beginning of the day I sometimes pick a fact from Wikipedia for “This date in history” to tell my students about.
Today was America “Ugly Betty” Ferrera’s birthday…oh and wow, the SF earthquake. Scrolling down, jeez, what year did Illinois have an…2008, why that’s…NOW!
About two hours after the fact, Wikipedia already had it listed.
But the aftershock felt more “earthquakey” to me than the first one.
When I called my mom in central Indiana to ask, she said she woke early for some reason, but she assumed it was one of her cats jumping on her bed. Then, a little after 11 a.m., my oldest sister who lives about two blocks away from Mom called her to ask if she noticed the aftershock, and Mom was sitting in her comfy computer chair and didn’t notice that one either. Mom’s a little disappointed that she missed out on all the excitement, but feeling safe that not one little thing in her nice solid house moved. (Believe me, the way she dusts, if one little thing were out of position, she could tell. There would be a clean spot where that knick-knack used to be. 
)
I bet he was hoping for ice cream.
To a 12 year old, any excuse for ice cream will do.