<p>Earthquake shakes perspectives</p><p>Rev. Valrita Gordon (left) and Eugenia Fitzhugh hug at LOVE Park after the earthquake forced office evacuations. (Clem Murray / Staff Photographer)</p><p>POSTED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011, 2:00 AM</p><p>Where were you when the great ’quake of ’11 hit? Just before 2 p.m., Center City offices emptied, trains and trolleys slowed, sirens sounded, and seemingly everyone grabbed for their cellphones to check up on family and friends. Floors moved, and walls shook. Everybody had a story, and — fortunately — they were eager and able to tell it. Carole Lokan-Moore said she told youthful summer-campers at her bed-and-breakfast in Burlington County to hide under the dining-room table and to “condense themselves into the smallest package” possible while she checked out what was happening. Reported damage was minor, including a cracked window at the Blue Cross building at 19th and Market Streets. In Cherry Hill, a “structural crack” was visible on a 13-story apartment complex. The experts said not to let the tremors rattle us. After all, the 5.9 magnitude quake, centered in Virginia, was 30 times less powerful than the East Coast’s strongest recorded earthquake. Still, it was one unsettling and, thankfully, brief experience that few would want to repeat. There’s nothing quite like the ground shaking to drive home the reality that, after all, some things really are beyond mere humans’ control. Even though an earthquake of any size is a rarity around these parts, it seems unlikely that the temblor on Tuesday will spur many life-altering course changes for the Philadelphia area’s new earthquake veterans. But it should. Take more time to smell the flowers. Be kinder to your neighbor. Give more to charities. Do your part to bring peace to every neighborhood. Seeing the region become a better place — for any reason — could provide an aftershock that would be far more welcome than the real thing.</p><p>Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq_ed_board/Earthquake-shakes-perspectives.html#fqVt7bMbvm5xbq2J.99</p>