Eastern earthquake
Nope, I didn’t feel it at all, which is just fine with me.
But there was a 5.9 earthquake in Virginia that reportedly was felt as far north as Canada. It was especially strong in DC, but the damage was very minor, fortunately, although some government buildings were evacuated.
It’s a reminder that earthquakes can happen almost anywhere (in fact, there was a much more minor one about a year ago in Virginia as well). In my years of living in New England, I’ve probably felt at least five, although all so tiny that they hardly did anything more than make the windowshades rattle.
I knew they were earthquakes, though, because I’ve spent a fair amount of time in LA over the years and been in quite a few. In fact, for a while there seemed to be some sort of tradition that, within 24 hours of my arrival, LA would have a tremor. It’s a tradition I’m only to happy to break.
[ADDENDUM: From commenter “Darrell“:
From hot air”¦.
Evidently the quake occurred on a little known fault line outside of DC called “Bush’s Fault”
http://twitter.com/#!/comradescott/status/106076604773564416]
Quake felt here, about 75 miles northwest of Philly. The condo rocked…first for about five-ten seconds, then a pause, followed by an aftershock.
No question it was a quake…I’ve been in them in California.
The natives here refused to believe my wife and me, but wsj.com to the rescue.
LA is a sinful place. Perhaps the tremors are caused by fear from your arrival. “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” The contrast shames.
Wait until the New Madrid Fault cuts loose again. The last time it did, in 1812, the Mississippi River was observed to flow backwards, and supposedly the shock was so great and felt so far that church bells in Boston and what is now Torondo rang themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_New_Madrid_earthquake
Sigh. That is Toronto, Canada.
I felt it real well here in Virginia Beach, very consistent rocking for around 30 seconds.
From hot air….
Evidently the quake occurred on a little known fault line outside of DC called “Bush’s Fault”
http://twitter.com/#!/comradescott/status/106076604773564416
The quake hit 34 miles sw of my
Virginia home. The wife says the living room is a mess as the walls were lined with bookshelves. It has almost been impossible to contact anyone back there; phone calls either don’t go thru or are cutoff.
Note: if the New Madrid fault cracks again we can say goodbye to Memphis and a chunk of St. Louis.
For earthquake aficionados the single most destructive quake in the east occurred in Charleston, SC in 1886.
I live and work inside the Dee Cee Beltway.
Quite an experience! Yep, buildings shaking and things falling off shelves and pictures falling off walls . . .
and giving some of us conversationally-challenged folks something to talk about.
Someone somewhere on the internet noted that since the earthquake affected Dee Cee and Noo Yawk, it will prove to be the most overcovered five-point-niner in history.
I live in Arlington, VA, about 75 NNE of the epicenter. We had about a half minute of rocking and rolling that was scary because it seemed like the house was going to fall down. We have a brick colonial with plaster walls and we were afraid the ceilings would come down but fortunately, no damage. All 16 drawers of two dressers came out an inch and stuff fell out of bookshelves.
We had a 4.5 quake from that area in 12/2003 but it was barely noticeable. This one was the strongest ever felt around here. There was a 3.6 quake NW of DC last year that woke us up in the middle of the night and it was scary.
Now, Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the area. Last time we had a ‘cane in this area was Isabelle in 9/2003 and we were without power for a week.
I felt it in the Philadelphia suburbs. I was at work and sitting in my parked car on a break, when the car began shaking. It felt like when you’re sitting in the left turn lane waiting to make a turn, and a truck passes by. Only the car kept shaking for about ten seconds and there was no truck in the vicinity.
I went back inside and was about to mention it, and I found two co-workers talking. One said she felt the room shake and heard a rattling sound, and the other was laughing at her, saying “I didn’t feel anything.” It turned out that of the five of us, only two noticed it.
This quake was felt over a wide area. See this map at the USGS website. They’ve had over 12,000 reports from 3500 different zip codes. You can also fill out their “Did you feel it?” form. I submitted a report earlier this afternoon. It took me three tries to get through. I suppose their server was pretty busy for a while.
Whoops. Go to the map link above and click “zoomout map”. That shows the reports from a wider area. Apparently I can’t link it directly.
Also a quake south of Denver Colorado last night (Tuesday night just before midnight).
Signs and portents, or what…? {Cue spooky music}
Carole King!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hoHuxpa4h48
I’m so vexed. I haven’t been in an earthquake since I was in one in Mexico City when I was a child (5.6, but felt MUCH bigger because the city is on a dried lake bed, which is like jello in any earthquake). And I missed this one! My neighbors downstairs felt it quite distinctly, but I was taking a relaxing bath and noticed nothing. Probably was running water to fill the tub at the time, and didn’t see or feel anything unusual (NYC).
But according to the USGS map, we’re in the “slight to no damage” zone, which means it was barely felt by most of us.
Earthquake Interrupts AccuWeather.com Forecast Video
Speaking of weather, Hurricane Irene is starting to look like it’s going to get very interesting for those of us in the northeast this weekend.
Felt it here in my office (ground floor level) in downtown Pittsburgh. Floor and desk shook noticably. Co-workers reported similar experience. We were even required to evacuate the building for about 20 minutes.
I’m sure it was mild compared to what left coasters experience on a regular basis. They were probably amused at the “hysteria” (sort of the way we northerners react when southern cities like DC are “paralyzed” by snow.)
A friend felt it on the 11th floor in Flint Mi. Thats about 650 miles from DC!