The "In the words of ncguy ...... Shake, Rattle, and Roll" Story

Click on to see location of quake.
St. Martin is directly beneath Anguilla.

It was an ordinary day.  Pulled up the Herald online island edition of the newspaper to see what was happening in and around St. Martin.  Nothing special, because the real news broke after the edition had been posted online during the night.  At 2:56 am, April 30, 2013 a 5.3 magnitude earthquake occurred West of Barbuda.  The event was located at 17.66 degrees N and 62.10 degrees W.  Those coordinates would also place it near St. Kitts and Nevis.  The quake had a depth of 30.4 miles and was felt in St. Kitts-Nevis as well as the French island of Guadeloupe.  I found out about it by puling up SXM Tavel Forum as well as TavelTalkOnline (TTOL), two forums that I enjoy reading on a daily basis.  Someone on TTOL made a post at 6:16 am inquiring if anyone felt the quake as well as giving a link to information about it.  SXM Forum made a post at 6:35 am with a link to the West Indies Seismic Research Centre to give information to anyone on St. Martin.  Everyone was interested in what was felt on St. Martin.  I made a post telling that I heard something move in the villa, but wasn't sure what it was.  Didn't really feel any motion, but I have to tell you I am a sound sleeper and my wife didn't hear or feel a thing.  On TTOL some of the comments were: 3 am.  It woke me up and I said out loud holy crap; Yep felt a rubble, but no rockin and shakin!; We are on the 8th floor of the Atrium and our entire building shook for about 10 seconds; It was enough of a tremble to wake us both from our sound sleeps and cause us to momentarily wonder what it was until we realized it was a minor quake, but not enough to cause either of us to stay awake and worry about it. I've heard about this sensation on SXM for years but this was another 'first' for my memory book......; felt it HUGE here...woke me up, bed shaking and things in closet rattling...I expected to see cracks in the wall, but all is OK, it was the longest one I've ever felt...I even went outside (at 3:00 am) but no one else seemed bothered...what was different about this one was the NOISE...sort of a rumbling sound; Rocking and rolling here in Oyster Pond too about 2:50 AM. Woke me up. I had to get up to pee anyway!  The last comment pretty much described what I experienced also.  Didn't impress me much, but thought that since I was awake I might as well hit the bathroom.  Carol was more concerned the next morning when we went to the beach.  Kept a close lookout at the ocean in the distance to make sure we didn't see any huge waves coming our way.  A question to myself ...... was it because of global warming, was it earth's way of rebooting, or maybe a warning from God for something gone wrong.  Luckily we survived to see another beautiful day in paradise.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.