[PRCo]

[Schneider Fred]

Forwarded from Fred Schneider from Lancaster Newspapers on line,  
Saturday morning.   On the north side of Blossom Hill it was like  
someone dropped a bomb.   The apartment shook and it was only 3.3.    
I thought the water heater went through the roof.   I went outside  
and found the other tenants on the street.   Must have been caused by  
the weight of all that money in store cash registers after Christmas!
By BILL HANNEGAN, Staff Writer
An earthquake was felt across a large part of Lancaster County  
shortly after midnight today.
There were no initial reports of damage or injuries.
The quake measured 3.3 on the Richter scale and was centered about  
one mile north of Salunga in East Hempfield Township, according to  
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Seismograph readings on the Millersville University Web site showed a  
sudden, short-lived movement at the time of the quake.
The USGS said the quake occurred at 12:04:34 a.m. today.
The Intelligencer Journal newsroom was flooded with calls from  
residents of the city and Lititz, Manheim and Mountville Boroughs and  
East Hempfield and Manheim Townships who said they heard what sounded  
like an explosion.
A caller on Blossom Hill in Manheim Township said she felt "a  
rumbling in the house, like a truck hit the house." She said she felt  
an aftershock.
A caller from Ephrata said the earthquake "knocked all of the pots  
off of her stove."

Residents of Marticville and Smoketown also called in.

A newspaper receptionist said a caller from Manheim Township was  
speaking with her mother in Bel Air, Md., when both parties suspected  
hearing "what sounded like a train wreck" at the same time today.
A woman from Centerville said everybody in her trailer park community  
"felt the ground shake, and their lights went off and on."
County police and fire dispatchers said they had no immediate reports  
of damage resulting from the quake. No ambulance or fire calls were  
reported following the incident.
E-mail: bhannegan at lnpnews.com