Earthquakes and Hurricanes

It has certainly been an interesting day.  Throughout the southeast we've been focused on Hurricane Irene.  It is shaping up to be a major hurricane, and everyone is wondering where she will hit along the Atlantic coast.  At first it appeared landfall might be the east coast of Florida.  Later the prediction was centered on Charleston, South Carolina.  Hopefully, that won't happen since the last hurricane that made a direct hit on Charleston was Hurricane Hugo in 1989.  After smashing into Charleston, it  marched right into Charlotte still packing hurricane force winds.  Everyone who lived here then remembers it well.  We have hundreds less trees in our fair city, thanks to Hugo.  Thankfully, every few hours, Irene's direction seems to be moving a little further east, a good thing for our city.

I turned off the TV about 1:45 today after watching the most recent hurricane update.  A few minutes later, and shortly before 2 p.m., I felt the sofa begin to shake from side to side.  My dog, who was lying at my feet, looked startled.  When the shaking stopped less than a minute later, I thought, "this feels like an earthquake.  Did anyone else feel this besides me?  Okay, Laney, you must be imagining this.  We don't have earthquakes in Charlotte.  Maybe it's just a big truck, or the ceiling fan's off balance, or the nearby road crew's equipment."  I got up, turned off the ceiling fan, looked outside and saw nothing out of the ordinary...no trucks or cars on our street.

I wondered who I could call without feeling stupid if they say, "No, I didn't feel a thing.  It must be your imagination".  So I got out my laptop and started searching for tremors in the Charlotte area, but came up with nothing.  I even did a Google search on U.S. seismology sites; nothing there either.  But if you want to know anything, the place to go is Facebook.  Immediately, someone asked if anyone else had felt shaking.  That's when someone else posted of breaking news of a 5.8 earthquake near Richmond, Virginia.

While on a mission trip in Guatemala two years ago in March, we experienced a 6.3 earthquake in Antigua.  It was about 10 p.m. at night, when our hotel room began to shake.  My son and I both felt it, but my husband slept right through it.  As soon as today's earthquake was confirmed, I called him at work and asked if he felt the quake.  I couldn't believe it...he knew nothing about it...hadn't felt a thing..again!

Should I be surprised?  My hubby can fall asleep at a traffic light.  He can fall asleep faster than anyone I know.  He can sleep all night with the lights on.  So, if we have earthquake aftershocks tonight, or if Hurricane Irene makes a swift left turn and aims for Charlotte on Saturday night...I'll have to wake him up, or he'll sleep through the whole thing!

Psalm 4:8 "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."


Copyright 2011 Charlotte Laney