5.8 Earthquake in Virginia

[Alex]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005ild.html

I know of a dozen people that felt it from Virginia northward to New York. Was on the phone with my Mother when she commented that things were shaking in the house. What have you felt?

Revised the post title to reflect the downgrade from 5.9 to 5.8

[NWI_Irish96]

Did not feel anything in Indiana, but my boss was on a videoconference with people in suburban DC and said that he could see the shaking on their end.

[Michael in Philly]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005ild.html

I know of a dozen people that felt it from Virginia northward to New York. Was on the phone with my Mother when she commented that things were shaking in the house. What have you felt?

In my 6th-floor cubicle in an 8-story building in Philadelphia, I felt something odd about 1:45, then definite horizontal swaying a couple of minutes later.  Most people within earshot obviously felt it too.  Most people, me included, spontaneously evacuated the building (I was thinking terrorism, actually).  Heard the reports of an earthquake while I was outside.  Couldn't reach my parents by cell while outside, but other people were starting to talk of people they'd reached who'd felt it in other places.  After about 15 minutes outside, went back in, and my mother reached me on my office phone; she'd gone outside because of the shaking, heard from a neighbor what was going on, and went back in and started watching the news.

I'm surprised a 5.8 (or 5.9, depending which source you look at, at least at the moment) could be felt like that 250 miles away.  Let alone farther (my parents' in northeastern New Jersey; New York City reportedly; even Concord, N.H., I saw somewhere).

[Mr_Northside]

It was noticeable here in Pittsburgh...

[Alex]

Friends on FB reported it in NJ, PA, NY, CT, MD. Spoke with a friend on the phone in Newark, DE and he felt it. Mom was in Townsend, DE. Cell networks are having problems with all of the call volume up there. One friend in Richmond reported that nothing broke where she works and that things were fine.

[formulanone]

Didn't feel anything in Winston-Salem, but I was in my car.

[myosh_tino]

5.9?  Pffftt, that's nothing to a Californian...  

Seriously though, I hope everything and everyone is OK and there isn't any significant damage.  Pretty sure that quake came as quite a shock to a lot of people out there.  Just remember there will probably be some aftershocks so be prepared.

[1995hoo]

I was driving on the Beltway. Did not feel a thing. Had no idea. I parked the car in Old Town and wondered why so many people were out on the sidewalks. Then my wife and brother sent me text messages. Got home and found some pictures on the floor, drawers had slid open, some stuff fell off closet shelves...weird stuff.

Dammit, I missed all the fun!!!!!!!!!!   

[myosh_tino]

Got home and found some pictures on the floor, drawers had slid open, some stuff fell off closet shelves...weird stuff.

Dammit, I missed all the fun!!!!!!!!!!  

Ummm... trust me, if you were at home and everything started to shake and things are falling off shelves you would not be thinking "hey this fun" especially if you haven't experienced an earthquake before.  

My first (and only so far) big quake was the 1989 Loma Prieta Quake that hit during the Giants-A's World Series and it scared the living crap out of me.  What was equally as frightening was seeing the damage the magnitude 6.9 quake did to San Francisco, Oakland and the Bay Bridge.  Remember this quake lead to the quick demise of the Central and Embarcadero Freeways in downtown S.F. and caused significant damage to California 17, California 1 and I-80 (Bay Bridge).

On a related note, do they teach earthquake preparedness back east?  Out here in quake country, we were taught in grade school to "duck and cover" (i.e. get under a sturdy object like a dining room table or desk) in the event of a quake.

[agentsteel53]

(I was thinking terrorism, actually)

good grief.

[Michael in Philly]

(I was thinking terrorism, actually)

good grief.

I work at a Jewish organization.  And am not in earthquake country.  Other people in Washington and New York had the same thought.  Don't be an ass.

[agentsteel53]

I work at a Jewish organization.  And am not in earthquake country.  Other people in Washington and New York had the same thought.  Don't be an ass.

you're not in "terror country" either.

the basic laws of probability still say "earthquake", not "terrorist attack".  the primary reason why so many people in DC and NY still have such a response is because the 9/11 attacks were so completely out of the ordinary ...

and they will remain so.

earthquakes, on the other hand, will happen on occasion.

[1995hoo]

....

On a related note, do they teach earthquake preparedness back east?  Out here in quake country, we were taught in grade school to "duck and cover" (i.e. get under a sturdy object like a dining room table or desk) in the event of a quake.

Not that I've ever experienced. I've never had any such lessons.

I was just outside talking to my next-door neighbor and he is pissed because he grew up in California and thought he had escaped earthquakes by moving here.  

[Michael in Philly]

I work at a Jewish organization.  And am not in earthquake country.  Other people in Washington and New York had the same thought.  Don't be an ass.

you're not in "terror country" either.

the basic laws of probability still say "earthquake", not "terrorist attack".  the primary reason why so many people in DC and NY still have such a response is because the 9/11 attacks were so completely out of the ordinary ...

and they will remain so.

earthquakes, on the other hand, will happen on occasion.

Earthquakes of this magnitude do not in fact happen on occasion on the East Coast.  At least not frequently enough that someone in his mid-40s would have felt one before.

But excuse me for not thinking so rationally during the first couple of minutes.  After that, I did indeed think that an earthquake was the only thing that made sense.  

Now what's your excuse for being an ass?

[The Premier]

I didn't feel it here.

[SteveG1988]

Felt it in Mt holly NJ, near exit 5 on the NJTP.

[myosh_tino]

I was just outside talking to my next-door neighbor and he is pissed because he grew up in California and thought he had escaped earthquakes by moving here.  

Tell your neighbor that because he lived in California means earthquakes will follow him for the rest of his life.  You can never "escape" an earthquake!  LOL  

[elsmere241]

I felt it near New Castle (Corporate Commons), DE around 1:51 pm.  Seemed like my desk was shaking horizontally a couple of times.  My building was evacuated for about an hour.

[1995hoo]

Michelle Bachmann: There is no such thing as an Earthquake. Hell just burped.

Rick Perry: Clearly the gays did this.

Jon Huntsman: All the government ran into the street and the stock market shot up 100 points. This should tell us something.

Newt Gingrich: This is how diamonds are made.

Ron Paul: Yabba Dabba Doo!

Mitt Romney: This is Obama's fault. As a matter of fact, it happened along the Obama Fault.

[agentsteel53]

Muammar al-Gadhafi: There has not been an earthquake.  All is well.  The rebels will be crushed.

[mgk920]

It was all BUSH'S FAULT!!! 

Felt nothing here in NE Wisconsin.

Mike

[1995hoo]

Barack Obama: This proves we need to raise taxes on the rich, and that allowing this kind of activity to go unregulated is dangerous, so I am going to establish a new deparment to regulate this activity.

[Desert Man]

Earthquakes in the East coast is in comparison more common than Hurricanes landing on the California coast (none on record). From a geological perspective, the closest mountain range: the Appalachias to the west of Washington DC has a small likelihood for seismic activity.

The M6 tremor sure rattled nerves in the Northeast Corridor (esp. New York and Washington DC) and the Carolinas as well...and on the news: Thousands of people went outside the US government office buildings, the Wall Street stock market exchange (so far a good trading day) and major airports had to close.

There has been a rash of earthquakes lately in the south Pacific islands of Vanuatu (about a few M6 and 7s) and Solomon Islands. It is common for that part of the world, while any earthquake outside a major tectonic fault zone is unusual.

[triplemultiplex]

Revised magnitude is 5.8.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/se082311a.php

They talk about it being near Mineral, the nearest incorporated place, but the closest place name seems to be a place called "Cuckoo". lol

This places the quake in the heart of pre-Cambrian metamorphic bedrock that dominates central Virginia.  Relatively unfaulted, this transfers the energy of the occasional earthquake quite well.



No shaking detected by this Cheesehead.

[D-Dey65]

I just read a news report on MSNBC claming it was felt as far south as Georgia, and as far west as Illinois. It may not be the big killers that you had in the San Francisco Area in 1989, and Los Angeles in 1994, but it still gives me doubts about all the infrastructure of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states at this point.


Remember that thread on scary bridges?

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2970.msg112561#msg112561

How is the Millard Tydings Bridge holding up right now?