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Earthquake On US East Coast

Fox News is reporting almost no damage but wide spread over ractions all over the place, it's clear that people are not used to dealing with a quake.

He he. As one would expect.
 
D.C. earthquake: Powerful tremor shakes region - Capital Weather Gang - The Washington Post

Breaking: U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed an earthquake struck central Virginia at 1:53 p.m four miles south-southeast of Louisa, Va., near Mineral, Va. It has been felt throughout the D.C. metro region and over a large part of the eastern U.S. Initial indications are that it measured 5.9 on the Richter scale.

Minutes after the quake, the director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Marcia McNutt -- who watched objects falling from the shelves in her office -- cautioned that the shaking might not be over.

“What the concern is, of course, is that this is a foreshock. If it’s a foreshock, then the worse is yet to come.”

“When something like this happen, everyone has to remember, more than half of the states in the U.S. are considered earthquake country. When something like this happens, remember what to do in the case of a seismic event. Duck, get under something sturdy like a desk or a doorway, get away from falling glass. Make sure that you are not in the way of falling objects like pictures, bookshelves, books, anything that’s not firmly connected the wall.”

The last significant earthquake in the DC Metro:

An earthquake also occurred in the D.C. metro region July 16, 2010. A 3.6 magnitude quake centered near Gaithersburg shook the area. Today’s 5.9 magnitude quake is 200 times bigger than that quake and more than 2,800 times as powerful (USGS How Much Bigger Calculator).

I was out of town for that one, missed out.
 
One of the things about earthquakes that's frightening is the sound as it approaches...like a freaking freight train coming through your living room.

Funny you say that. I've heard a lot of people say that an oncoming tornado sounds like a freight train. To me, the scariest thing about a tornado is the lack of sound. Everything goes very still, very quiet, and very heavy. Then there's this weird feeling like mother nature just took a deep breath and sucked all the air out of your vicinity...and then all hell breaks loose. But I never heard the freight train.
 
And Al Gore is running around right now yelling...."See, see, see....I told ya...."

j-mac

And we just lost three more polar bears who were vacationing in the DC area.
 
One of the things about earthquakes that's frightening is the sound as it approaches...like a freaking freight train coming through your living room.

I wasn't scared of the quake so much as I thought that someone had broken into the house. I heard a loud noise, and immediately thought to myself "the only noise that could possibly be that loud is if burglars are breaking down my door." The thought that they might be armed, and i'm not, scared me ****less and it was at that point i ran into the kitchen wanting to grab a knife, only to realize that the whole house was shaking and i was like "oh okay it ain't burglars it's just an earthquake."
 
Then there's this weird feeling like mother nature just took a deep breath and sucked all the air out of your vicinity...and then all hell breaks loose. But I never heard the freight train.

Are you a tornado surviver?

As to the quake, don't freak out people, there may be more as comet Elenin approaches in late September. Stay cool and don't worry. :)
 
I felt it in NYC. The bed started rocking gently back and forth, as if the building were swaying. Just big enough that I was certain it wasn't my imagination. I figured it was the construction outside, and I was a little worried because I didn't think the building should be shaking to that degree.
 
Are you a tornado surviver?

As to the quake, don't freak out people, there may be more as comet Elenin approaches in late September. Stay cool and don't worry. :)

Survivor is probably a stretch. It touched down about 2 blocks away and whipped in the opposite direction. I got all of the "up close" I could handle and avoided (most) of the damage and threat. We had a few tree branches broken off and the courtyard table flipped a few times.
 
2.8 aftershock hits Virginia.
 
Fox News is reporting almost no damage but wide spread over ractions all over the place, it's clear that people are not used to dealing with a quake.

The reaction was similar when Virginia was hit by its record 5.9 quake more than a century ago. Some snippets from the June 1, 1897 edition of the Hartford Courant:

Asheville, NC: "At 1:15 this afternoon an earthquake shock very perceptibly shook Asheville. Hundreds of occupants of buildings ran into the streets."

Cincinnati, OH: "Shortly after 1 o'clock an earthquake was felt here and in the suburb. The printers ran out of the 'Times Star' office. Occupants of other buldings were alarmed, and at Coney Island, Chester Park, and the Zoological Gardens and elsewhere there was consternation among the holiday crowd. At the lagoon on the Kentucky side there was a panic among several thousand people on the grounds."

Richmond, VA: "An earthquake shock which lasted several seconds was experienced here about 1:30 p.m. today. It shook buildings and rattled windows, but no damage was done. The people in many buildings were badly frightened."

Zanesville, OH: "The 'Courier' building four staroies high exhibited decided vibrations. To such an extent was this noticed that employees on the fourth and third floors deserted, hurrying below greatly frightened."
 
And Al Gore is running around right now yelling...."See, see, see....I told ya...."

j-mac

The Tea Party has issued a press release stating that earthquakes are a hoax, there's no such thing as tectonic plates, and demanding that all Republican candidates immediately sign an oath affirming these views.
 
Yeah it's back up and running now, albeit probably with delays.

Yeah... and I got halfway to school to find out it was closed. >_<

Confirmed, I felt it as well. Was working and my monitor was shaking, and my chair started moving on its own.. I was like, WTF? We don't get those kinds of dangers in Rochester, NY. At best we get a ice storm every few years or so, but no earthquakes, or tornado's, hurricanes, or floods.. But it's winter 6 months of the year.. LOL

Tim-

There was that quake two years ago up in Canada. We felt it in Rochester, too.
 
Image of the earthquake devastation here in DC:
earthquake.jpg
 
I was quite...shaken by it!

"Shaken, but not stirred, like a good martini." That was the text I got from my friend in Alexandria when I texted him to make sure he was okay.
 
Yep, and they got it right. MSNBC, however, is lying through their teeth trying to spin this against Bush. While Huffington Post has a piece on how the Washington Monument is racist and Media Matters blames Rupert Murdoch for his weather ray.

Part of me wants to laugh because you're joking. Part of me wants to hang my head because my wife had a professor who actually attempted to suggest that the monument was a racist symbol because the top plus the windows is meant to look like a klan hood....

Sigh.


Yeah, th quake was definitely an unique experience
 
It's very interesting to see and hear the reactions of people om the East Coast when they are hit with a moderate quake such as this one being reported as a 5.9.

Here in California pay very little attention to quakes this size because they are pretty common, and the reports from the East are as if this was a huge event and the Washington Mounument may be leaningm and a number of builtings have been evaquated and snd no one is being aloud ro go back inside.

Buildings in the East were not built to the same standards they are here and they might have damage we might not see.

I feel pretty much the same way. 5.8 in Taiwan is not a big deal. Things pretty much continue as normal during and after anything below 6.5...
 
Part of me wants to laugh because you're joking. Part of me wants to hang my head because my wife had a professor who actually attempted to suggest that the monument was a racist symbol because the top plus the windows is meant to look like a klan hood....

Sigh.


Yeah, th quake was definitely an unique experience

How does one stop short of actually suggesting?
 
LOL - the monument is racist?

:rofl
Cue Brother Clayton Bigsby
"In an effort to bring his message to a wider audience he agreed to give his first interview ever to Frontline . . . "
:rofl
 
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