kesil, there was a minor (4.5) earthquake in Northern Illinois that he was able to feel in Michigan. [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Quakes/uskgad.htm and http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm20463_20040628.htm] At that moment--1:11am--I was up, online, chatting with my friend Meg who is marooned in Iowa for the summer. I didn't feel a thing.
This is the second time that there has been an earthquake on the Sandwich fault (which ends under my high school friend Brian Symon's childhood home outside of Oregon, Illinois) and I haven't felt it. The first time was my senior--or maybe my junior--year in high school. Brian and Tim Stouffer (
2ndtimothy) were at Brian's place and went "Whoa!" as the tremor rattled the house: I was on a schoolbus at that very moment, where you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish an earthquake from the normal sensation of being tossed around in a vehicle with minimal shock-absorbers, if any. I have no idea why I couldn't feel it last night. I'm on the third floor of my apartment, so that should have added to the effect, and I know the news stories cite people feeling it around here. I've always wanted to feel a small, doesn't-hurt-anyone, doesn't-damage-anyone's-stuff, earthquake--just for the sensation of it. Once again, I somehow blew it. 