More earthquake impressions!

7.6 Richter, about 1600 km north-north-east of Wellington. It occured at 10:39, which means that it took about six minutes to reach here, which means it travelled around 16,000 kph. That's in-line with a quick internet search on the speed of sound in rock and propagation speeds of earthquakes (between 3 and 8 km/second). Woo, science!

As Kris mentioned, it was a long quake. This was actually the second most-powerful quake I've ever felt, though due to its drawn-out length, it was the scariest. It was so smooth and on-going that I felt as though it could be the prelude to something truly destructive, like it was the beginning of a long, smooth ramp-up to a real shaker.

I called Clodagh right after it happened, just to ensure that it was not a truck passing near our apartment or something. She answered the phone with, "Didja feel that?!?" It was her first quake, and she was well-pleased upon being informed that it was an unusually large and long quake (just like my... nevermind). She also apologized for it occuring, since she had wished for an earthquake about an hour before. I knew she was a witch. Real Irish people fear the water, but she is comfortable near it. She knows it would reject her body.