If you’ve tuned in at all to the latest end-of-the-world chatter (or reputable geologists), then you’ve probably heard about the three earthquakes that rattled the homes of Oklahomans over the past few days.

It wasn’t until the second record-breaking earthquake, however, that the new term “quakenado” was created, since our beloved state was simultaneously under a tornado warning during the second round of rippling waves.

Sure, seismic activity isn’t an everyday occurrence around here — it’s mostly just the violent twisters here in the heartland —  but some of what the local news was reporting was downright ridiculous.

So, needless to say when I was suddenly awakened by my house shaking at 2 am early Saturday morning, I didn’t really know what to think (none of my neighbors have any donkeys, so clearly I ruled that out quickly).

Within the next minute, and in almost what I’d characterize as a biological instinct, I picked up my phone and scrolled through Facebook to confirm whether anyone else had experienced what I just had, or perhaps that I was just dreaming.

No recent posts on Facebook (yikes, guess that means I’m pretty old, most of my friends were also probably asleep).

So, then (again, as if by some deep internal nature) I went to TweetGrid, my personal favorite Twitter search tool. One quick search of “Oklahoma” and “Earthquake,” and the tweets wouldn’t stop rolling in!

I know everyone talks (except for some Texans, apparently) about the real power of the platform in states of emergencies, and many New Yorkers recently experienced first-hand how local governments and public agents effectively leveraged this tool for the first time in a widespread emergency during Hurricane Irene.

But until you’ve really experienced something like this for yourself,  there’s just not the same level of appreciation around how helpful and effective these tools can be.

(And as a side note and a newbie to earthquakes, it’s just pretty eerie to think about how much earthquakes really shake up, be it the massive flights of birds and bugs or the fact that even the Cheeseheads so far north felt its tremors.)

So, while we may have a case study around the infamous Snowpocalypse at HQ, Team Oklahoma now has a full-blow tornado under our belts, as we recall from Jenny and Lydia taking shelter under my staircase:

And, now we have Quakenado. That’s 2:1. For the record, here’s what I included in my insurance damage claim:

What do you think is to blame for these recent tremors? End of the world? Fracking? Donkeys?

Becca Colbaugh is JESS3’s Vice President of Production & Operations and ain’t afraid of no Quakenadoes. Follow her @Becca_Colbaugh.

Tags: humor, oklahoma, Quakenado, the heartland