WEST SENECA, N.Y. — The earthquake sent people running Monday morning, unsure of whether an explosion had happened or their house was hit by something.
"It woke me up, and I literally felt the house shake. So nothing fell off the walls, it wasn't that drastic, but it was enough for me," said Judith Powers.
To talk with people about their earthquake experiences Monday morning, we went to Southgate Plaza in West Seneca Monday afternoon, just a short drive from the epicenter.
"I just thought a car had hit our house," said Sara Vanremmen.
"And then when did you realize what it actually was?" asked 2 On Your Side's Kelly Dudzik.
"My husband was up and getting ready for work and he had Channel 2 on, he had the news on. You guys were in commercial, and then we're like what's happening, looking outside and all that stuff, and then you guys came back and said it was, I think Patrick Hammer said it was an earthquake," said Vanremmen.
Most of the people we talked with on Monday had the same reaction and thought something hit their house.
"At first I thought a truck hit my house. My picture fell off my shelf above me, and then I just hollered for my husband because I thought maybe something happened in the front of the house. And he just yelled, what happened?" said Christine Johnson.
"We live on a street where traffic tends to be fast, and I'm always fearing somebody's going to hit the house, and I thought it was a car maybe approaching our home, and then it just blew, and I heard the sound, my husband slept through most of it, and then I was worried it was our furnace. I didn't know what it was. I was very rattled. I was," said Kris Lukis.
"When did you realize it was actually an earthquake?" asked 2 On Your Side's Kelly Dudzik.
"Well, then our neighbors, we all started texting and then one of the neighbors sent over that they had seen it was registered somewhere, but it was very, very scary," said Lukis.
And as Sara Vanremmen was walking away from us with her boys, one of them started asking her questions about earthquakes, so she took the opportunity to have a teaching moment with him.