Originally posted by Stratman I live about 20 miles west of St. Louis Mo. And it woke me up. Felt like someone was shaking my bed, I was more confused than scared. Was a really strange feeling !!!
I had an early appointment this morning, so I was awake 4:35-ish when the quake happened. I was in my office in the basement.
First each floor joist above me creaked in succession as if the entire ground shifted the house to the left slightly by the foundation and the upper floors moved to "catch up." Then the same creaking happened back to me in the opposite direction. This whole thing took less than 5 seconds.
I thought, "Oh no. There's some large mammal running across the ceiling tiles!"
Then my desk chair started shaking noticeably and that continued for another 10 seconds, so I realized it was an earthquake, and the shakes continued very slightly for another 30 seconds.
I am very relieved there isn't a raccoon in my ceiling.