Hell's bells, it was an earthquake: channel 6 said so. It was a rumble and a lot of rattling. It reminded me of the way my windows and possessions rattled when they blew up one of the James River bridges 10 years ago; of dozens of huge trucks on Mulberry Street; of the college boys who lived below me in my last apartment, who played music so loud that the whole building shook. I unplugged the computer and stood in a doorway, just in case. After perhaps a minute, only one window kept rattling: I put my hand on it and it stopped.

Oh, here, see if this link will stay active. The US Geological Survey says 4.5; started west of here at a minute to 4, EST. My clock said a minute or two past four at the moment that I got off the sofa and said "what the hell is that?"