This is a printer friendly version of an article from www.ocala.com
See original article: http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/FEATURES09/209130343/1334/news01
Article published Sep 13, 2006
| NOW WE'RE TALKING Shaken by something unexpected Florida has its faults - but I never expected an earthquake. Living here for 12 years, I have come to count on hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, sinkholes, droughts, wildfires, bears, alligators, sharks, cottonmouths, pygmy rattlesnakes, brown recluses, termites, sexual predators, crazed killers in the national forests, dangerous roads and drunken drivers. Until last week, I could go through my list and still gloat at anybody from California - where the ground could shake and hurricane-proof buildings come tumbling down at any time. Then, at 10:56 a.m. Sunday, a magnitude 6.0 temblor shook the floor of the Gulf of Mexico 260 miles southwest of Clearwater. It was too small, thank goodness, to cause a tsunami. But people did report feeling the earthquake in Florida. Dan Hawks of Pedro noticed it while he was sitting in a recliner in his mobile home - the whole place jiggled for a few seconds as if a washing machine were spinning off balance. He went outside to check for sinkholes or falling limbs - the kinds of things you could reasonably look for around here. Dorothy Pitone, working at the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra office, felt her chair shaking, then saw her desk shake and the door move. "It was odd. It was definitely a weird experience," she said. At our home in Ocala, my wife tells me the armoire shook in the dining room - not that I noticed it. I was totally oblivious. I didn't know about the earthquake until I came to work and started reading the news wires. Now I feel as if I slept through a solar eclipse or rose too late for an Ocala snowfall, as if a giant comet came and went and I didn't bother to look up. On the other hand, ignorance was bliss. That complacency I once had about earthquakes - the confidence they were someone else's problem - is forever shaken. For the record, the U.S. Geological Survey says Florida - which is far from fault lines like those in California - is not usually considered subject to earthquakes, but some have been recorded. The most damaging was in January 1879. It knocked plaster from the walls and articles from the shelves in St. Augustine. A quake in Cuba in 1880 sent shock waves through Key West, according to the USGS. And, in 1886, a deadly earthquake centered near Charleston, S.C., rattled North Florida. It rang church bells in St. Augustine. Minor earthquakes were felt in 1893 at Jacksonville, 1948 at Captiva and 1952 in Quincy. In 1978, according to The Associated Press, a quake rattled windows in Polk County. No one has died from an earthquake here and, if we're lucky, no one will. In the late afternoon Sunday, thunderstorms pummelled Ocala and flooded its streets. I looked out the Star-Banner windows and was glad things were back to normal. If we could just hold to the hazards we have, we'd have a chance. I mean, we can prepare for storms, build better roads, conserve forests, crack down on crooks, quit smoking, treat for termites, and teach people to use seat belts, sunscreen and bug spray with 20 percent DEET. We can check our tires for bad spots and volunteer to be the designated driver. However, I would very much prefer it we didn't add new worries - like earthquakes or mad cow disease or pythons let loose in the wild. Just don't tell me about it if the Ocala National Forest sprouts a volcano. Now We're Talking is published on Wednesdays. Joe Byrnes may be reached at joe@ocala.com or (352) 867-4112. |
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