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Shaking brings back memories of larger quake

By Mark Harrison
The Times-Journal

Published November 17, 2009

Apparently, an earthquake rocked Fort Payne and DeKalb County on Monday.

Well, maybe “rocked” is too strong of a word. The quake was one of the smallest recorded in Alabama this year, registering a minute 1.4 on the Richter Scale. That’s really more of a trickle than a quake. Most folks didn’t even feel it, probably wouldn’t even know about it if not for the media coverage.

It was certainly no “Quake of 2003.” I vividly remember that earthquake. I was living in Fort Payne and – like many other residents – was stirred from a sound sleep by what seemed like a bulldozer rumbling through my house.

The dogs were barking, pictures had been knocked from the wall – half-awake and bewildered, I wandered out into the lawn to see what was going on. There were police sirens in the distance.

I lived relatively close to Joe’s Truck Stop at the time, and my first thought was that there had been an accident and something had exploded, but then I thought there should be more commotion if that were the case.

I also lived relatively close to one of the city’s substations and my second thought was that perhaps a transformer had blown up, but – again – shouldn’t there be more commotion?

The distant police siren soon faded. The dogs stopped barking and the night returned to relative calm. I decided to go inside and try to go back to sleep. I’d find out what caused the rumbling in the morning. At that point, the thought of an earthquake hadn’t even entered my mind.

No sooner had my head hit the pillow than the phone rang. I got up and answered and a voice on the other end of the line asked, “Did you feel the earthquake?”

So, that’s what it was – an earthquake. I asked the voice on the other end, “So that’s what it was? An earthquake?” The voice replied, “Yes.” I replied, “Oh.” An earthquake. In DeKalb County. In Fort Payne. Who would have though?

Later that morning, of course, it was all over the news – a 4.9 quake that could be felt in several nearby states, as far away as Indiana, with a shockwave equivalent to the explosion of 400 tons of TNT.

That’s still not the biggest one to hit Alabama, though – that one was in 1916 and registered 5.1.

The mini quake Monday can’t possibly compare to those two – it didn’t even raise as much ruckus as the alarm clock would – but, it did occur, nonetheless.

So, I guess those folks out in California have nothing on us DeKalb County residents when it comes to quakes. I know I’m perfectly prepared for the next one – perfectly prepared to roll over and go back to sleep.

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The Fort Payne Times-Journal | Publisher: J.D. Davidson

811 Greenhill Blvd.NW, Fort Payne, Alabama 35967 | Tel: 256-845-2550 | Email