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The Earthquake Rose 
This photograph, and those following, were taken by Norman MacLeod after the Seattle earthquake on 28 February 2001. At a shop called Mind Over Matter in Port Townsend, Washington, people had been playing with a sand pendulum throughout the morning. At 10.55 am local time a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in over 50 years, rocked Seattle and the surrounding area. Although the quake's epicenter was about 11 miles NE of Olympia and 36 miles SW of Seattle, the tremors were felt as far away as Vancouver, Canada. The earth rolled for between 30 and 45 seconds while cracking sidewalks, toppling buildings and causing structural damage. In the midst of chaos, something strange and wonderful happened. The seismic activity caused the sand pendulum to create rippling waves in the sand, which as the shaking ceased, resembled a solitary flower in the midst of devastation: a rose. Here are two more photos of this anomaly:   n.b. Recently I received an email containing a link to the Earthquake Rose website. Feeling that this was simply too good not to share, I contacted the photographer. Norman MacLeod was kind enough to grant permission for me to post his photos on my website (see letter below). No matter what image you see in the sand, it is an awesome example of beauty in the midst of natural destruction. Naturally, these photos remain © 2001 Norman MacLeod. 16 March 2001 To enquire about a sand pendulum :: back to musings and more ::
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