Did the earth move for you too, Gloria?

[Bluenose]

We had a magnitude 5.3 earthquake here last night, just before 9 pm local time.  The whole house shook from side to side for about 40 seconds - very scary/exciting.  Fortunately no damage at Casa del Blue and I understand that there have been no reports of serious damage.  Mostly I think we all just rang each other up to compare notes and started tweeting and posting on Facebook.  It's another age, these days...

[Sibling DavidH]

Wow!  We've had a couple of 2.somethings in the last few years.  I actually noticed one of them - like a fast train going by, all noise and no shake.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I know what a 5+ feels like (Bogotá is in a seismic zone) and it isn't fun, much less if you are a few stories up. Good to hear that there were no damages (sometimes less than 5 can be very destructive if the constructions aren't up to standard).

[Opsa]

Very exciting. Glad to hear that you and the lawn chairs are all right.

[Griffin NoName]

That's quite strong............compared to any we ever get as DavidH says........... love the cartoon.

[pieces o nine]

I'm glad you suffered no damage, and applaud your rebuilding spirit!

[Bluenose]

Thank you all for your support in this time of need. 

I guess we dodged a bullet there.  On the news last night there was security cam video of the inside of supermarket close to the epicentre and it was quite dramatic with the shelves shaking and then collapsing.  Apparently about $100k of damage to stock was done.  Plus a number of buildings got cracked walls and one building was threatening to collapse, but has now been ruled safe.  From what I can gather that's about as bad as it got.

As for the lawn chairs, that was put up within a couple of hours of the quake, perhaps it says something about our collective sense of humour, but it appears to have gone viral here.  I have been asked by a number of people if I had made it, but I have to admit that although I wish I had, it was not me...

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

The last quake we had here in Oklahoma, I thought it was just a low flying airplane--- didn't even knock down the loose paint on the ceiling...

I'm happy to read everyone is fine at Blue Mannor. 

[Bluenose]

Apparently those who know such things have now decided that it was 5.4, up from the 5.3 previously reported, the biggest quake in Melbourne in over 130 years or so.  The experts are saying that there is now an increased chance of an even bigger quake in the next twelve momths or so.  Sounds scary, but I bet its like medical risks where they get all excited about an incresed risk of something or other, but when you run the numbers its something like twice the risk of something that's not at all likely.  I'm not about to panic just yet.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Indeed.  Twice something that is nearly zero... is still... nearly zero.

[Griffin NoName]

A bigger quake could be 5.400000000000001

[Roland Deschain]

I'm glad it didn't upset your house at all, Blue. The recent ones in New Zealand were far worse, with the ones causing the recent (ish) tsunamis far worse than those. Not a nice thing to have to deal with.

A bigger quake could be 5.400000000000001

I am, quite frankly, shocked. Who would have thought? Heheheh.

I've experience one earthquake in England, and like David says, it was pretty lame compared to the monsters in other parts of the world. I happened to be up in Solihull on business, courtesy of my old company (read: slacking), and on the phone to a friend in Redditch, when the windows in my hotel room suddenly shook. My friend commented on it at the time, but we almost missed it, it was that tame.

I'd love to experience a far bigger one, but it would necessarily have to be within a safe area. The earthquake simulator they have (or used to have) at the Science Museum just isn't the same.

NB - To all those not versed in English geography, the above places are just south of Birmingham, the second largest city in England, which is located in the Midlands.

[Griffin NoName]

I also have experienced one of the UK's tiny ones in London. I was in bed and it was like it rippled, probably akin to a water bed. Nice.