Today was the day of natural events. The first rain since June and it was quite a strong thunderstorm. It had more wind and lightening than rain, but we will take it. Then this morning, our first serious earthquake.

Summary:

Magnitude M 4.8

Region ALBANIA

Date time 2007-09-05 at 05:08:15.2 UTC

Location 41.41 N ; 19.47 E

Depth 5 km

Distances 9 km N Durrës (pop 122,034 ; local time 07:08 2007-09-05)
11 km NW Shijak (pop 14,138 ; local time 07:08 2007-09-05)

Since we have been in Albania, we have only had 2 earthquakes that we could feel. The first was back in April and was so far away that we barely rocked. However today, we had a strong shake. The map below shows Durrës and the location of the quake in red.

The quake struck at 07:08am and everyone was up after that. Living so closely to each other with windows wide open, you get to hear much more than you want. This morning you heard all the screams. In these panic situations, it is hard to know if they are screams of terror or screams to get people up and out of bed quickly. But it was a long 4 seconds, long enough for you to ask if the concrete will hold up and did I chose my position wisely.

Thankfully, there was not any property damage in Durrës that we know of.