|
I don't think I would have made it out. As it is, I was on the 6th floor of my building and had to grab the flat-screen to keep it from tipping (never been in an earthquake before). The sounds of the earthquake rumble, stressed concrete, brick and block in the walls was quite loud and deeply disturbing.
People on the 9th floor of my building watched pictures fly off the walls and their plates, photographs and books jump off their shelves and tables.
My building (and most of the apartment/condos in DC built during the late 60's to the early 70's urban renewal craze) have no cross bracing on the ground floor level. It's all glass and concrete pillars. Sure the concrete pillars are huge, but the first floor is also 20' in height. We were swaying like a palm tree in a stiff breeze.
Finally, this earthquake lasted a good 30 seconds - it wasn't mild, by any means.
Now, I get how west-coasters pretend to be all jaded re: earthquakes, but I also think that's complete BS. You never know how large they're going to be until it's over. Given our infrastructure here in the east and our building types, it could have been far worse.
|