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Southwest Florida was left shaking Wednesday morning.

The ground certainly rumbled below my feet. Sitting in the Naples Daily News newsroom, I thought our Tyrannosaurus Rex printing press had started up.

For the next few hours, a plethora of speculation arose. The best explanation turned out to be a few fighter planes playing war off the coast caused a sonic boom.

At first, the Collier County Emergency Operations Center called it an earthquake. The EOC called it a 6.0 on the Richter scale jolt some 250 miles from Apalachicola. Thirty minutes later, an EOC person called and retracted their statement. Can you say, “Never mind.” This should be standard governmental speak. During the entire day, the readers of naplesnews.com and bonitanews.com let us know how and what they felt. Here are a few of my favorite posts explaining the shaking phenomenon:

I also thought it was just dump trucks. (Dump trucks? In Southwest Florida? No way. Maybe it was just Posen Construction trying to move a crane without a permit?)

It’s nothing more than the over-priced Naples housing market crashing. (This comment later got the new gray-box treatment, meaning that the majority of the readers disapproved of it. Who knew so many Realtors post?)

It was the remaining population of Mexico crashing through the border. (The poster noted that this was intended to be a joke. But surely the illegal immigration opponents had already drawn this conclusion.)

I thought my neighbor had eaten another “Taco Bell Fiesta Meal” last night when I heard my sliders banging around. (No, this is not an illegal immigration joke.)

I think we need some FEMA money! (It’s not worth the wait)

Rosie O’Donnell was in the area visiting and fell down. (No, this post wasn’t signed by Donald Trump)

Somebody dropped their Starbucks coffee — that is a national disaster (With a grande latte costing $3.25 plus tax, dropping that kind of big-bucks coffee would make you shake.)

Starbucks on Central was shaking for several seconds. One lady dropped her latte on her newspaper. What a scene. (Sounds like a potential lawsuit considering the price of coffee and the value of the newspaper. Contact FEMA for a reimbursement.)

Just wanted to say that no one that I know of out of the around 1,800 students at Naples High felt it. Maybe some did and said nothing but knowing that NHS is practically a gossip chain disguised as a school (at times), no one said anything and I expect something like this people would’ve been talking about. (Maybe everyone at NHS just thought all the rumbling was the “Big Bad School District” chasing down Nick Sofos again)

I thought I was going nuts or there was 20 dump trucks driving on Davis Blvd. (Once again, dump trucks? In Southwest Florida? At least we know it wasn’t Alstaldi Construction.)

Nothing makes me feel more secure than knowing that the Collier EOC cannot tell the difference between an “earthquake” this morning and an earthquake that happened 4 months ago. (It’s hard to believe someone expects more from a governmental agency.)

I felt it too on Marco Island, thought it was a tremor too. Had to go online and find out. (At least, they knew where to look for solid news that makes the ground move.)

E-mail Tom Hanson at tahanson@naplesnews.com 