Earthquake Mistaken for Large Truck, Fireworks, Pets on the Bed

Anne Arundel County residents tell Patch they were among those who heard a boom and felt the ground shake Saturday night when a magnitude 2.2 earthquake shook the region.

The earthquake was centered in the Crownsville area, and occurred just after 10 p.m., reports the U.S. Geological Survey.

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Readers said they felt it in Annapolis, Severna Park, Crofton, and Pasadena. One thought the boom was an odd sort of firework, another wrote she thought her dog had climbed on the bed – but there was no dog.

An Annapolis reader’s dog knew what was coming before the quake hit.

Michele Wallace Rue shared on the Annapolis Patch Facebook page: “I tried to take our pup out for a walk, about 7 minutes before it happened. She flat out refused to go out of the door. We went and sat down, then the house shook. I thought there had been an explosion nearby. Guess the pup sensed it...”

And an Edgewater Patch Facebook friend posted that the boom and shudder made them think a generator had been hit.

Melody Kiser Flippo wrote on Facebook: “The house shook, windows rattled and heard a loud boom. This is the third one and yet again, earthquake did not come to my mind. Thought it was an explosion of some sort.”

Others thought a big truck in the neighborhood was the culprit, or that an appliance was on.

Joe Sabban said on the Annapois Patch Facebook page, “I felt the rumbling in the community of Rolling Knolls in Annapolis outside Crownsville. I thought our dryer was running which is loud and shaky when on... but my wife said it wasn’t on.”

Annapolis Patch reader Pam said, “Fireworks had been going off in the area, but one boom sounded a little different and then we felt a shake. Neither of us really thought it was an earthquake until we heard the news on Sunday. Once we heard the announcement, we were like ... “oh yeah, that did feel like an earthquake.”

More than 90 people who felt the quake sent reports to USGS, says The Washington Post. Most of the reports were in Anne Arundel, with 21 from Annapolis, but reports of the tremor also came in from Bowie and Columbia.

Earthquakes happen when there is movement below the Earth’s surface on fault lines. They can occur anywhere in the U.S. and usually last less than a minute, according to FEMA.