October 18, 1984, 9:30 AM, Chadron, Nebraska - We are having our first snow of the season. For once, it is falling straight down instead of sideways. I am sitting on a sofa on the second (top) floor of the Chadron State College library. The sofa is located in the very center of the floor in a large open area, surrounded by many tables (most of which are empty). [I believe] I am reading a required classic novel for "Continental Novel" (yuck!).
At about 9:30 AM, I feel my stomach start to rumble very, very subtly from indigestion. I pay no attention to it until I realize a few seconds later that is not stopping and that it is more "uniform" than my indigestion usually is.
That's odd.
I look down at my stomach in confusion.
While I am looking at it, the rumbling actually seems to spread to the sofa.
Huh?!
I look at the arm of the sofa to see if I can see it moving, even though I am convinced that my indigestion has simply gone to my head and is making me imagine it. [I don't remember if I could see the arm moving or not, but the subtle -- almost non-existent -- vibrations continue to affect me personally.]
I look up at several students (all strangers) who are studying at a table near me. I am about ready to ask them if they feel the vibrations too, even though they appear to be oblivious. Before I can utter a word, the entire building starts shaking somewhat violently (like a trailer house in a sudden 50-mph gust of wind). It all ends a second or three later with a loud, almost violent boom or thud.
We all look at one another in surprise. I theorize out loud that the library's furnace may have exploded. I also cannot resist telling them with a smile that I had been feeling the vibrations for some time prior to the final jolt and that I thought it was just my stomach rumbling from indigestion. They ignore me.
I cannot remember how long it was before I learned that it was an earthquake and not a furnace explosion, but it was probably not very long. I definitely knew it by the time I departed for my American Frontier History class at 10:45 AM.
The USGS web site gives the following specific details on the earthquake I experienced:
WYOMING, 5.5 [Richter Scale] (GS). Slight damage (VI) at Douglas, Medicine Bow, Casper, Shirley Basin, McFadden, Rock River and Guernsey. Some damage was reported at a condominium complex in Golden, Colorado. Felt throughout much of Wyoming and northern Colorado. Also felt in western Nebraska, parts of South Dakota and Montana, and by some people in high-rise buildings in Omaha, Nebraska and Salt Lake City, Utah.
I wonder if this is the same earthquake that LL experienced in the early 1980s.
