The information age

I was just sitting here a few minutes ago answering e-mail, and felt something shake the chair I was in gently, as if a strong gust of wind had shaken the house, but if there was a sound, it was at the edge of hearing. Went outside to see what might have caused it, but found nothing even remotely likely. I thought I might have had my first encounter with infrasound.

…Until The Girlfriend called from a neighboring city and asked if I’d felt it too. Okay, that’s not infrasound. A quick web search revealed a 5.8 magnitude quake hit central Virginia about five minutes before I felt it. If you want to see comparative distances, think “Raleigh NC” for where I am when looking at the map.

I hope the damage, and especially the injuries, are at a minimum at the epicenter. I sit here amazed that I could find the answer so distinctly within ten minutes of the actual event. When I was growing up, I had to rely on the TV news and radio, and might have heard nothing until 6 PM. You kids have it lucky…