Tuesday, August 31, 2010

BIG shake, wind and rain

It's one of those rainstorms that hides Guam from view, and a lot of wind this morning - there was an area of tropical disturbance just off Guam yesterday, probably not about to develop into anything but still enough to give us some nasty weather. The wind is blowing hard, and it's very dark outside. 

And then, a rumble - is that a small earthquake? The dog-sitting dog was looking alert - and then a BIG shake, the whole house lurched. The dog-sitting dog ran over to see me. I was trembling and alarmed. 

But Nick was in the shower, and he didn't feel it! 

The USGS hasn't posted it yet. Since we're in a new location - on top of a cliff - and on the ground rather than on an upper story, I can't guess what the magnitude was, but it was sharper and lurchier than I've felt here before. Maybe it just occurred closer to Guam? 

But the combination of big shakes, strong wind, and rain so dark that we can't see the rest of the island, is really pretty creepy... 


UPDATE: Here it is.  Only a 5.0, but it was closer to the island - only 20 miles from Hagatna, which is in the middle of the island - looks like it was right off the northern coast, so we would have been less than 20 miles away. Well, smaller is better! But closer is not so great... 


1 comment:

  1. Wow, I didn't imagine that the quakes would be so consistent about who they want to shake and who they want to leave alone. I think it was very nice not to both Nick while he was in the shower.

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