Well. That was fun.

[Bob Schroeck]

At about twenty after ten this morning, local time, we got hit with a magnitude 4.8 earthquake. The epicenter was about 18 miles northwest of us.

It took a minute or so -- about 30 seconds longer than the earthquake lasted -- for us to realize what had happened. We've had a lot of heavy winds the last few days, and we thought we were in some freak windstorm that was trying to tear off the roof, based on the sounds we were hearing. I still ran around the house just to make sure there had been nothing like a tree hitting the roof or anything.

At least this time I noticed the quake. The last time one hit, back in 2011, I utterly failed to notice it at all. I was in the break room of my job at the time, getting coffee, and when I got back to my desk a coworker asked, "did you feel the earthquake?" "What earthquake?" I asked, thinking I was being pranked. But no... Now I can be the one asking. <grin>

EDIT: Just had to add this:

[Bob Schroeck]

So apparently there have been four aftershocks, of which we've only noticed the most recent, which (lightly) shook the house not long ago.

Meanwhile, in Newark, a set of four row houses were evacuated when they started leaning shortly after the quake. Three of them have apparently been condemned now. That seems to be the worst damage anywhere, at least so far as I've heard.

[jonathanlennox]

I'm in Jersey City, and I similarly thought "windstorm", and then "construction", and then "earthquake...hm there sure are a lot of bricks on the facades of the buildings around here."  But we were fine.

And maybe this belongs in "Politics and other Fun", but it's been pointed out that the epicenter of the earthquake was (to within the margin of error of epicenter measurements) directly underneath Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.

[Labster]

Wow, total disaster! Unbelievable, the liberals would earthquake Trump, just unbelievable. Believe me.

We're currently having a windstorm here in California, so maybe the Force is in balance. I don't think I've ever mistook one for the other, though.

[Bob Schroeck]

Amusingly, considering that margin of error, the epicenter was effectively under the offices of both my current employer and a previous one.