Summer of '83, I was still in the Navy and deployed to Sigonella, Sicily. Etna was erupting on and off. I awoke one night thinking someone was kicking my bed, but I was alone in my room, so I figured it must have been a dream. Next morning, I noticed some items that had been in the top of my closet were now on the floor, and I figured out it must have been an earthquake.
Then there was the one that hit near DC in '11. I had just retired and I was home, chilling, when it sounded like a big-ass truck was driving by, except it lasted way too long. By the time my brain told me what was going on and I headed for the door, it was over.
I only ever felt one: the 1983 magnitude 5.3 Adirondacks earthquake that struck very early in the morning while I was still in bed. At first I thought it was the cat jumping onto my bed, but it just kept going on, as if there were a dozen cats taking turns jumping up. I was 14 years old and living about 200 miles from the epicenter at the time.
Let’s see…Southern California…lived here most of my life…can see the San Andreas fault from my window…yeah, I’ve felt a few. Including the Northridge quake, the Sylmar quake, the Landers quake and the Big Bear quake.
Yes, but no. The only ones here have been very small, and there have only been two I even noticed, the strongest of which was a 4.0. So yes, technically I’ve “experienced an earthquake” but not one that even did any damage.
There was a tremor in Colorado about 25 years ago, when I was a student living in Denver; the shaking woke me up, but since it earlier than I usually got up and it wasn’t like buildings were crumbling around me or anything, I went back to sleep.
The same sort of thing happened here in Maryland a few years ago at about 5 in the morning. I thought it was a large truck passing by on the street outside and went back to sleep. I didn’t know it was an earthquake until I got in to work a couple of hours later.
I was awake for the third one, which was that larger quake that was felt up and down the whole eastern coast. I was at work and my first thought was that there was some construction going on in the building or just outside, then when I realized what was happening, stood in my office doorway (although I’ve been told since that that’s not the thing to do); then they made everybody leave the building and sent us home while they checked for structural damage in the walls.
I grew up in the Bay Area, so I’ve felt lots of them. I’ve lived in the Sacramento area for the last 25 yrs and have only felt one in that period of time. That was the one north of us in Greenville, May 2013.
There was an earthquake in DC a few years ago, which has been my only one. I’ve been trying to reach my parents today, who live in San Rafael. No luck so far.
Next time you dream about the winning California Lottery numbers, send me a PM.
One of my earliest memories is the aftermath of the '71 Sylmar quake. I slept through the quake itself, so all I remember is waking up and wondering why all my toys were scattered on the floor…
And then of course there was Whitter '87, Landers '92, Northridge '94, Chino Hills '08, Easter 2010 – too many to mention, really.
Earthquakes of a readily perceivable magnitude are rare in my hometown. I think the first earthquake I’ve felt and recognized as an earthquake was in 2007. It wasn’t particularly strong or remarkable for me, although it caused quite a bit of damage where it hit.
The largest/most memorable earthquake I’ve experienced was the 3.11 Tōhoku Earthquake. I was visiting a school for work and goofing off with the 5th and 6th grade class when the building started swaying back and forth. After getting the kids under their desks, I ran down to the teacher’s office to check on things and everyone was gathered around the television watching the coverage of the tsunami.
I’ve felt a few earthquakes here and there since then, but fortunately nothing remarkable.
