An earthquake rolled through the peaceful plains of Iowa last Wednesday night that disrupted the quiet serenity of the capital city and caused thousands of crazed people to mosh like never before.

It measured a whopping 8.5 at its epicenter, which surprisingly was located at SuperToad, the club where three of the hottest bands were bashing it out.

The Ghandharvas, Fuel and Creed were the bands responsible for the chaos which caused several eardrums to break, noses to bleed and bodies to dehydrate.

When the madness first began, it was the Ghandharvas, pounding away with gargantuan Marshall stacks, and a lead singer that could scream like a banshee and make hair stand on end.

Lead singer Paul Jago whooped, hollered and danced around the stage like a young Steven Tyler. With harsh riffs and pounding bass that actually knocked you back, the Ghandharvas rocked on songs like “Hammering A Shell” and the single “Downtime.”

That led into a mammoth jam session which had Jago pounding away on his personal drum kit, consisting of two coffee cans and a metal bowl duct taped to a stool.

By the time the session was done, conjuring up images of Perry Farrel and the rest of Jane’s Addiction, the cans were nearly crushed.

When the Ghandharvas handed the quake over to Fuel the magnitude increased. Fuel started out immersed in darkness while Samuel L. Jackson’s famous Pulp Fiction speech echoed through the building.

Suddenly blinding lights flashed on and Fuel stormed into “Untitled,” the opening track off the band’s first major label debut “Sunburn.”

The stage lights scorched the band like a desert sun, and sweat poured from lead singer Brett Scallions’ face like a sliced artery.

The bass was never fatter than on songs like “Bittersweet” and “Sunburn,” where it literally made your heart skip a beat and crushed your lungs like a musical bear hug. Bassist Jeff Abercrombie was in a trance as he plucked the deadly notes.

When the opening notes of the current radio hit “Shimmer” sounded, the crowd went into a frenzy.

The song was more powerful live than it would ever be on the radio, and ended in a monstrous drum solo by the He-Man-looking stick banger Kevin Miller.

Fuel then burned through the beastly “Mary Pretends” and “New Thing,” another hard-driven rocker.

Fuel was adding to the sweltering fire the more they played. The place was steaming hot, and the crazed fans were thirsting for more despite the intense heat.

“You fuckers are kinda hot out there! I’m gonna share my water with you!” Scallions said before spraying the crowd down with his bottle of lifesaving liquid.

It was finally time for the last song of the set, and Fuel saved the best for last. The band leaned toward the heavy metal sound which has embraced them well.

They blasted out “Ozone,” a fast moving, dizzying rollercoaster tune that had Scallions screaming “Suckers! Suckers! Suckers!” with such vigor that it was amazing he didn’t pass out.

The earthquake continued to shake even more when Creed took over the tectonic plates of the crowd, but the frenzy was a little more slow moving.

The furious foursome stomped onto stage as the lightning colored lights slowly illuminated brighter and brighter, crescendoing with the screams from the crowd.

Creed opened with the hit “Torn,” a steamroller of a song that managed to stay heavier than hell despite moving as slow as it does.

Lead singer Scott Stapp held the stage with a pretty-boy essence, but by the end of the song he looked more and more like a sweaty Ozzy from the Black Sabbath days as his wet hair stringed across his brow.

Guitarist Mark Tremonti then made a cheap attempt at AC/DC’s beginning melody on “Thunderstruck” before getting down to business and opening up the tune “Ode.”

“Now I know why we came back. We’ve got so many friends here in Des Moines,” Stapp said after finishing the song.

Stapp then took some time to wash off the dehydrating masses in the crowd with two bottles of water before the band pulsed through the patriotic “America.”

Red, white and blue lights reflecting from mirrors behind the band showered the audience, and chills of emotion ran down your spine as Stapp clinched his fist and belted out the song.

Creed also shared a lot of new songs during the night like the preachy “Younger Generation” and “Bound And Tied” off of the newly released soundtrack for “Dead Man On Campus.” Stapp attacked the drum kit and tried to simulate being bound and tied, but he actually looked like he was humping it.

Other new songs included the eclectic “Say I,” in which Stapp had everyone pretend they were on a mountain top, and he was telling them what he saw, like an enlightened prophet.

Stapp also shared a song he wrote for his unborn son when he found out his wife was pregnant, titled “With Arms Wide Open.”

Before the encore break Stapp announced, “There comes a time every night when you have to play that song. I think I know what song you guys want.” Creed then bombarded through the band’s other megahit “My Own Prison.”

Creed left stage amidst screams of ecstasy, but soon returned to rock the place one more time.

The band wasted no time hammering into the happy-rocker “One.” After finishing it, Tremonti rambled out the opening to Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters,” which led into the latest Creed hit “What’s This Life For.” During the middle of the song, Stapp thanked everyone before launching his voice skyward when he started the song up again.

The earthquake was over nearly two hours after it began, leaving in its aftermath over 2,000 heads aching from one of the loudest concerts to strike the area.

Yet this was one natural disaster that many will hope to experience again.