Most of us had some logical explanation for the shaking we felt Tuesday afternoon.

Here at the Wetzel Chronicle, our first thought was that a large truck was driving by. Afterall, our office is located right along state Route 2 and on a corner where large delivery trucks regularly drive across the concrete corner just a few feet and a brick wall away from my desk. We’re accustomed to a bit of shaking.

But there was something different about this shaking. It was constant, it was lengthy, it was an earthquake!

We all know now that it was indeed an earthquake that registered 5.8 on the Richter scale and centered near Mineral, Va. Sure, 5.8 might not be a big earthquake in places where such trembling happens on a more regular basis, but for us east coasters, it was a big deal!

Thankfully it doesn’t sound like there was too much damage done anywhere, even near the center. But our buildings in this region are often old and I don’t think many, if any, are built with earthquakes in mind. They just don’t happen on the east coast, do they?

Obviously they can. Like many people, I thought it was pretty neat to experience a mild earthquake. It was certainly new to me.

I’m sure others found it a bit disconcerting, but none of us, at least locally, shook enough to cause too much alarm. I guess God just wanted to shake us up a bit this week.