All shook up!
Shook me all night long. I Feel the Earth Move... And that's only a few of the songs a local radion station has been playing in the aftermath of a 5.5 on the richter scale earthquake in our area this afternoon. It had to be the wildest one I've ever experienced in my lifetime and lasted at least 10 full seconds.
I had just come back from lunch and was late to a meeting. After running a brush through my hair and applying lip gloss I gathered up my meeting materials to rush off to the boardroom when all of a sudden I felt extremely dizzy, developed an immediate and excruciating headache and nausea. A split second later the floor just trembled below my feet. I held on to the edge of my desk and waited for it to stop although I wasn't sure what 'it' was. Then I slumped into my chair listening to co-workers in other cubicles exclaiming their alarm. Ok so it wasn't me having a stroke or something. Yay! On TV the night before Discovery channel ran a program on sink holes which I suddenly remembered. At that moment, I shut down my computer and grabbed my belongings and evacuated.
Down on the crowded streets everyone was trying cell phones and black berries but there was no service. A lot of discussion was going on whether or not we should have remained in the building, found shelter in underground parking lots or head to open spaces away from buildings should windows shatter or bricks fall etc. About a half hour later everyone had either gone home or went back into their offices as word got round that it was an earthquake.
I had gone back into my office but was still reeling from the déjà vue feeling I'd had just prior so I had to leave. I know animals can sense these kinds of things but I've never heard of humans being able to. I'm still in a state. Local news reports say the quake was felt as far as Toronto and Ohio but the epicenter was in Val des Bois, Québec about 50 km away from the Ottawa downtown core. I can tell you I'd never like to experience anything more serious than what I felt today.
My home is closer to that point but luckily the worst that had happened were a few crooked pictures and displaced items on tables, bureaus etc. So far no reports of any serious injuries or damage. Just a very bad headache that won't go away. Think a glass of pinot noir is in order. :)