It was around 1:30pm and the only thing on my mind was my upcoming progress meeting I scheduled with my three principals and my supervisor. 1:50pm rolls around, and I walk over to Leah's desk to ask her a quick question before the meeting. I look over and hear Srun saying, "What is this? What is this?" while her computer monitors were shaking back and forth. At first, that was all we saw, but then the entire building began to shake and tremble. I remember standing there, frozen almost to a panic, watching the windows vibrate, hearing the sound of shattering glass in the office, and not knowing what was going on. It lasted a solid 15-30 seconds and I vaguely remember Leah actually asking, "Do I need to get under my desk??"
Little did I know at the time, it was actually the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the east coast from Richmond!
Right after the shaking stopped, people were running around and evacuating the building, anticipating an aftershock. (Thankfully, that never happened.) We stood outside next to the building for a half hour while firetrucks were rushing down the streets toward the Key Bridge. I think they were just looking around to make sure no damage was done around the city. Cell phone service was down, of course, but Anthony managed to get in touch with me so that made me happy.
Honestly, it took be a good couple of hours to completely calm down from all that. I look back on the moment and think how crazy it was for me to panic! I should've taken cover immediately, but at the time, all that was going through my head was, "What is happening?!" let alone "I should take cover."
Oh, and the glass that shattered were some trophies and pictures hanging around the office. At first I thought it was the Conference Room doors because of how loud the crashing was.
I hate to say it, but I'll know for next time...the first earthquake in almost 70 years in Virginia?? Crazy to think about. Scary, too...
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