At 3.39 am this morning we jumped out of bed screaming. As the children came running into our bedroom we instinctively knew that we had just experienced our first ever earthquake. It was scary! It's not uncommon for this area to have minor tremors but this was certainly above average!The bed shook and it was over in less than a second. The noise was a loud, deep rumble, like many lorries driving through the house or someone using a power drill with hammer action.
This morning I checked the website and confirmed that it was indeed a tremor that could be felt within a 100 km radius. When we put on the news, we discovered that they have pinpointed the epicenter to the town of Steinen. Heard of it before? It's the town 7 miles from here where we go to church and where God has been really blessing recently. Maybe I should have titled this post "Church causes seismic waves in Steinen" :) Steinen actually is the German word for 'stones'. Well the stones were certainly moving this morning!
At this time, no damage has been reported. We are thankful that it wasn't worse. In 1356 a huge earthquake destroyed the nearby city of Basel.
Listening to the reports coming in, most local people here were woken by the quake, but simply turned over and went to sleep again. Everyone is talking about it but they don't appear to be overly concerned. The authorities have said that aftershocks can not be ruled out.
Should we set up an earth-quake survivors group for the Roycrofts, the Grants, the Vallellys and the Cousins..? Know how you feel - it is scary! Look after yourselves. God bless. Ian
ReplyDeleteWe felt it way out here in Holderbank, but just enough to briefly wake us for a few seconds and wonder what just happened. We thought it might have been an earthquake.
ReplyDeleteI woke this morning wondering if it was all just a dream. I guess it wasn't!
We've been having more quakes around this area in the past few years than in the past 20 yrs. combined. A few were "man made" because the earth was reacting to very deep drilling around Basel to access the earth's heat for heating homes on the surface. This triggered earthquakes.
Ha ha, I found your post because I was looking for news on the quake - we live in Haagen. Maybe we will visit your church this Sunday... Your fellow Ami neighbor in Kreis Lörrach
ReplyDeleteHi Gary, Claudia and Boys,
ReplyDeleteI think that Ian might be on to something here!!! We fully sympathise with you in the experience you had last night - it has to be felt to be understood. We have been praying for you throughout the day, and particularly overnight as you seek to settle and reassure the boys.
Love and prayers,
A, C and G