A few minutes before 2 p.m. today, staff and residents at Carolina Meadows felt what came as a strange sensation to some (those of us who are N.C. natives) and as old hat to others (those who have spent time on the West Coast or even lived there): an earthquake!

Staff members in the Club Center building reported that their monitors rattled and their chairs shook. The 5.8-magnitude quake, centered about 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va., was felt across the Triangle region. We’re grateful that so far, there are no reports of injuries or serious damage in our area.