Earthquake (again!)

Can you believe that I'm not even 3, live on the east coast and have now experienced TWO earthquakes??? This afternoon, part way through nap time (though we were up from a fire drill anyway), my classroom started wiggling!  I told mom it sounded like thunder, but she told me it was an earthquake!  Here's how the conversation went:

Me:  Mommy, my classroom wiggled today when the thunder came.
Mommy:  That wasn't thunder, Sydney, it was an EARTHQUAKE!
Me:  What's an earthquake?
Mommy:  It makes the earth move and wiggle.
Me:  Oh - just like the elephants make the ground wiggle.

Lots of laughter ensued :)

Anyway, it appears to be a 5.8 magnitude quake centered about 100 miles southwest of DC, near Richmond.  Mommy felt it at work - her desk is right next to a big window and she thought it was the construction on the building behind her that was making the rumbling noise.  Then everything started to shake and pictures fell off the wall, so it was clear it wasn't the construction.  It seemed like it lasted a long time - certainly longer than the last quake we had.  Mom's first instinct was to call my school.  She talked to the director and she sounded shaken, but said the kids were all safe and outside with the teachers.  Mom asked her to call back if I needed to be picked up.

Fast forward a few minutes and mom's building was evacuated (along with every other building in DC).  You can imagine the chaos!  Cell service didn't work, so mom couldn't get in touch with school or anyone else for that matter.  Nor could people get in touch with her.  Mom usually takes a train to work, but her colleague was kind enough to drive her back to the Metro to pick up her car.  It took nearly THREE hours to get 22 miles - fun times.  This is the same colleague who drove mommy to my school when I had to get stitches in my forehead.  Needless to say, mom owes her a good lunch or two!

Daddy was out of town, trying to fly back in to DC this afternoon.  Thankfully mom was finally able to get in touch with Ms. Laurie, my infant teacher from the school before the last one, whom I ADORE.  Laurie's son is also in my school, so her husband went to pick up Zachary and she went to pick me up (so I could use Zachary's carseat in her car).  Mom had to talk to the director since mom had neglected to turn in new emergency contact forms since I switched schools :(  To say that mom had some major mommy guilt is putting it mildly.  Needless to say, the forms are now filled out. 

Thankfully it all worked out. Ms. Laurie picked me up and I was eating dinner when mom got to her house.  I got to play with Zachary for a while and mom and Laurie got to catch up.  By the time we got home, daddy was home.  I ate a little squash soup (one of my favorites) while mom and dad ate dinner.  We skipped my bath, mom read me 2 books, then I was OUT cold.  Probably because I didn't get a nap today - first time ever that I haven't even mumbled to myself at all.  I think I was literally asleep before mom got out of my room.  Hope that continues the rest of the night!

Anyway, long story short, we're all ok and I don't think there's any damage to the house :)

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2898&from=rss_home