Hey Farmg—wait, did you feel that?!
No? It was an aftershock.
An aftershock to a pretty big earthquake we had in Alaska a few weeks ago. You might have heard about it on the news? 7.0 with the epicenter about forty miles from here
To put it mildly: it was terrifying and awful and discombobulating. After lots of reading and discussing and studying, I can imagine being in a bigger one and I hope it is something you or I or anyone never has to experience. We are finally feeling pretty recovered after a few days of adrenaline hangovers, a week of high stress and another week of trying to return to normalcy. I questioned a few times if the lingering anxiety would ever fade, but with time and less frequent aftershocks it has subsided.
A birthday walk in the snowy woods to find our tree took a lot of the edge off of the ‘quake anxiety.
Thank you for taking us through your Quake experience! It was such a good read. I love the stories and pictures of your sweet family! Thank you for sharing and may you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy (and safe) New Year!
Thank you, Laurel! I’m glad I have this outlet to write it down or I would have waited to long for it to be raw. Merry Christmas to you and yours, too
Alex, you write so descriptively. I am so sorry you had to use your talent on this topic. True to your form, you made me feel as though I was there with you.
I am so thankful you all are recovering well. We love you guys.
Thanks, Aunt Becky–Love you, too! Merry Christmas!
Living in Kansas you would think there wouldn’t be any earthquakes here. They started happening after all the fracking going on. Such a weird experience to go through and granted they aren’t anything like you went through, but very disturbing, none the less. Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you think you could share some of that beautiful snow for Christmas? Sending love to you and your sweet family.
Yeah, Fracking induced earthquakes are very worrisome. Seemed earthquakes were the only thing we could say weren’t exacerbated by human activity–we were proven wrong! I want to keep all the snow for us! Just kidding, I’ll tell tell our snow fairy you are wishing for some. Happy holidays! Hope your Christmas is white and fluffy!
Wow! Sure glad you are all right. My home in Minnesota doesn’t seem so safe now. Have a blessed holiday!
Thanks, Bonnie! No earthquakes in Minnesota :). Happy Holidays!
Natural disasters are the worse! Unpredictable. I’ve never been in a major earthquake but have been in a tornado. Sounds like you handled it well and you have beautiful children! God bless you! Debbie
Thanks, Debbie! I hope this finds you well, Happy Holidays!
Hi, I live here in Southern California and we also had an earthquake today, Thursday, December 20, probably in response to yours, at about 12:22 pm. If you haven’t already, check out Sue Henry’s award winning books set in Alaska, beginning with “Murder on the Iditarod Trail” then also the one I finished yesterday called “Degrees of Separation” which is about an earthquake, and a murder. Creepy timing. Glad all is okay up there except for the mess.
Thanks for the recommendations! My father gave me a few of her books, but I have yet to read them. Hope your quake was okay!
I wondered if we would get a recount of this magnificent quake by someone that lived through it. How scary that must have been? I remember having felt one in my lifetime. I did not realize that Alaska was so prone to them.
Another interesting item, I just finished reading a book that was placed in Palmer, Alaska. How exciting to know that I have a blog friend there.
Wow, great post, you really shared the feeling of your experience. Here in Maine we get very few earthquakes and if we do they are teeny tiny, but I have experienced two in the 16 years that I have lived here. The first was very early in the morning, it woke us up, but we really didn’t understand what was happening, thought it was a big log truck passing by at a higher than necessary speed. When we got up, we saw that part of our rock wall had fallen and the news confirmed the quake. The second time was just after dinner. I was sitting in my studio when I heard this horribley loud sound, this time it sounded like a train, except there are no trains in the vinicity of my house, next everything just started to tremble, not really shake and not really move, just this unsettleling feeling that everything was trembling. It was over in just a few seconds. My husband came into my studio and we looked at each other with a did a bomb drop somewhere look. Checked the internet to find out it was an earthquake, epicenter many many miles south of us. While it was short and nothing happened other than some crooked pictures, it was very unsettling. I can imagine your fear for your beautiful babies, but it sounds like you did everything right. ( except maybe, for the commendable , but slightly misplaced responsibility you felt to check your neighbors property)
Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
I wish you the Merriest of Christmas and a Happy, Healthy (and non shaky) New Year.
Wow! So glad you’re all safe. That’s something I’ve never experienced nor is it on my bucket list! Quite an adventure for you. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you and your family are alright!!! You are a wonderful mother in how you responded to protecting your kiddos! And you have such great neighbors and friends! It’s so great to hear about people helping each other out! We had a tiny earthquake here in the mid-atlantic a few years ago- sooo not like yours! It was a big deal to many but since I live near a military training facility I’m used to the ground shaking and lots of rumbling when they practice live artillery fire. My ceiling fans wobble pretty bad when they fly helicopters overhead, too. So when our earthquake happened, people were calling me all scared, and I was like, huh? what’d I miss?!?! Wishing you all a safe and stress-free Christmas!!!
Alex, so glad you all are safe. I also didn’t realize Alaska was so prone to earthquakes. I have felt a few in the mid-west, but none as big as the one you described. I also felt one in Arizona when I was a child playing in the Colorado river. You are a great teller of stories and I enjoyed this post immensely. Thanks for posting it as soon after as you did. We always think of others during a disaster and try to help, it’s a natural thing to do and sometimes we forget about the more important things, but I am glad your children didn’t suffer any bad effects from it. Keep safe and keep writing.
Just so glad you’re ok! Another reason why your family wants you back in the lower 48, away from earthquake zones!! Your writing is so enjoyable to read I’m glad I came across this!
Love ya!
Aunt Egg
Love you, too Auntie Egg!
Thank You for this up date on the earthquake. Thank God you and the girls are safe. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Blessed, earthquake free 2019.
Marilyn
As a displaced Alaska girl with family still living in the State I as a new”old farm girl” feel like this made the whole joining worth while! My son and his are in Anchorage and the stress is wearing on them! I truly feel better after reading your post! You are talented, kind, a good neighbor, and a wonderful Mother! Never doubt always know that!
Thank you, Krissel! My outside family was quite worried as well. Thanks for the check-in!