～くらい　～ぐらい　could mean a darn lot of things like "about"/"at least"/"enough"/"such", etc.. depending on the situation (Basically, it means "about") 1. There was an earthquake strong enough to make the shelf fall. 2. When it becomes a night around here, it gets so quiet that it feels lonely. 3. 木村さん (Kimura-san most likely) couldn't go to the long-awaited trip, and he made such a poor, disappointed face. 4. I was so hungry that I couldn't bare it anymore. (literally : "at least that hungry") 5. I wish that you at least greet someone when you meet him. I'll give you an easier example (those were somewhat complex for someone who doesn't know the grammar): ～何年ぐらい勉強をしていましたか？ (~About how many years have you studied ?) / Although どのぐらい would be more natural, you can still ask like this ^^

merlin_codex did great translation. Just like merlin_codex mentioned the examples given above are quite complexed. I'll try my best to explain ～くらい・～ぐらい !. the earthquae was so big that things fell off the shelves 2. this area gets so quiet at dark that makes me feel lonely 3. since he had to give up the long-awaited trip, Mr. Kimura looked so sad that we felt sorry 4. my tammy ached so bad that I couldn't bear 5. greeting would be the least thing to do when one encounters others