House Explodes in Eastlake. We Feel the Explosion 15 Miles Away!

A home on the Eastlake-Willoughby border, right on Lake Shore Boulevard with the backyard extending down to Lake Erie, exploded about 2 weeks ago and we felt the explosion at our Chardon home some 15 or more miles away. We were watching television when we heard our windows shake and a dull thud of a noise. I looked at Linda and wondered out loud if we had had an earthquake. Then I thought maybe it was snow and ice sliding off our roof; or perhaps the wood in our house contracting from the bitter winter cold. Later that night and the next day, we found out that a house on the Eastlake-Willoughby border exploded into smithereens, most likely from natural gas. The man of the house was found outside sitting on a rocking chair. His 86-year-old wife was found under the rubble, alive but severely injured. She died about a day later but her husband has survived. I'm sure he is still pretty hurt, with bruises and burns.

Our home is about 15 miles southeast of this explosion site, and about 700 feet higher in elevation. To think that the percussive force could have traveled that far is amazing. I heard rumors that people as far away as Hiram, Ohio, also felt the explosion. If that is true, the blast wave traveled 40 miles or so! I think the weather conditions had something to do with the distance the blast wave traveled.

I have heard that the 1812 Battle of Lake Erie, just north and west of the Lake Erie Islands and the city of Sandusky, was heard as far away as Hambden Township--maybe 80 miles away. So this happens from time to time.