"All Shook Up!"

  So. Here's my question.
  Were you "all shook up" yesterday?
  And if you were was it because of an earthquake
in Virginia.....or......the reaction to that earthquake
here in Pennsylvania?  
  We were watching my favorite movie.
   It's a science fiction thriller called "Frequency." The
exciting climax was less than five minutes away when
we noticed the room begin to shake! It wasn't
dramatic. Nothing fell from the walls. But there was
a definite shutter of our house that lasted for about
20 seconds or so.
    Since I didn't remember that happening in the movie
before ,and since I am, or was, a 'trained observer', I
came to  the conclusion that something unusual had
happened.
    At first I thought it was caused by some sort of
heavy equipment driving by. Or maybe dynamite
blasting at a nearby construction site. But, since we
didn't hear anything we ruled that out.
   I mentioned "earthquake" then confirmed it by a   
call to my former News Assignment Desk.
   It wasn't the first to be felt in our area. But this one
seemed to have been felt by a lot more people than
others in the past.
  The reaction was....well....let's call it interesting.
  A lot of people reported feeling 'something.'
  But many had no idea anything had happened!
  Either way it was the topic of conversation...and
a lot more than that!
    Luzerne County, like the nation's capital, ordered
public buildings evacuated until those buildings could
be inspected...just in case!
   Wilkes-Barre suggested that people leave their
buildings for 15 minutes before going back inside. I'm
not exactly sure who came up with the quarter hour
figure or how they could be sure you'd be safe by
going back in 16 minutes later.
    Maybe there's a rule of thumb for how long it
takes for the walls to come down after an earthquake!
    TV reports confirmed there had been a quake,
noted the place where it was centered, talked
about local 'shaking' then repeated the story over, and
over and over and...well you get the picture!
    But give the folks credit. It's hard to fill 60 minutes
with three to six 'facts.
    I am not a big fan of the Rush Limbaugh radio
program. But I must admit I welcomed the
comments of the gentleman filling in for Rush who
questioned the interruption of life as we know it
in places like New York City because of the
'shakes.'     
    Apparently the network showing my movie
is located in an area that was not affected. For
that I any very thankful! Even though I know how
it ends I'd hate to miss the finale because of
the vibrations!
    Five hours later Yahoo's News Page
headlined the capture of a murder suspect
after 36 years, the latest on Hurricane
Irene, and the fact that the Stock Market closed
with its biggest gain in two weeks!
    It would seem, for most of us, that we had
faced a slight tremor rather that Armageddon!
    I'm wondering what my niece thinks about
our reactions.
   She lives about 30 miles away from the
epicenter in Virginia!
   Hope you've shaken the shakes and that
all your NEWS is good!