5.9 EARTHQUAKE hits east coast
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:18:43 AM
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My first
Around 1:52pm et
Have you felt an earthquake?
I live in Brooklyn
edit: centered in Virginia
Around 1:52pm et
Have you felt an earthquake?
I live in Brooklyn
edit: centered in Virginia
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:23:02 AM
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I live over 500 miles north of epicentre and felt the main shock.
Wisdom is the quality that keeps you out of situations where you would otherwise need it
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:25:59 AM
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I am located just north of Charlotte, NC, quite a way from the epicenter. I was sitting on a couch beside my cat and felt the furniture shake several times. The cat scooted to check out a floor lamp that was rocking. My wife standing 15 feet away didn't feel a thing, but she did see the lamp moving when I pointed it out.
I checked with my neighbor in the adjacent condo, and he didn't feel anything. A few minutes later, his wife called to say she had been sitting on her bed, felt the motion, and saw cabinets in her bedroom moving.
First TV news here says 5.8 on the R scale and located SW of DC.
Edit: Brooklyn to Charlotte seems like a rather large area for people to be feeling a quake.
I checked with my neighbor in the adjacent condo, and he didn't feel anything. A few minutes later, his wife called to say she had been sitting on her bed, felt the motion, and saw cabinets in her bedroom moving.
First TV news here says 5.8 on the R scale and located SW of DC.
Edit: Brooklyn to Charlotte seems like a rather large area for people to be feeling a quake.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:29:28 AM
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There was an update online by us gov earthquake site saying 5.9
Nothing damaged at first thought it was a big truck going down the road. That dosn't happen often and trucks have shaken the house before.
Nothing damaged at first thought it was a big truck going down the road. That dosn't happen often and trucks have shaken the house before.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:31:54 AM
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about 80 miles from epicenter. The biggest I've been through personally, enough to shoot me up with adrenaline....
edit: I think I was closer, 50 miles or so
edit: I think I was closer, 50 miles or so
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell! She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:33:06 AM
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I'm in Paterson NJ and didn't feel a thing. However, the gals in my office are all talking about it. Most of them felt it.
My wife is in an office in a shopping mall a few miles from here. It's on the top floor of the mall. The building shook a LOT, and the office's phone service is out. She's unsure if it's just them or the entire building. But she and the other people in her office are doing the right thing: Freaking out.
My wife is in an office in a shopping mall a few miles from here. It's on the top floor of the mall. The building shook a LOT, and the office's phone service is out. She's unsure if it's just them or the entire building. But she and the other people in her office are doing the right thing: Freaking out.
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Superstitions are silly, irrational, childish rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:35:26 AM
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The teabaggers did it.
August 23rd, 2011 at 11:36:01 AM
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epicenter, pretty amazing how fast this gets out
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell! She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:08:39 PM
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I'm in downtown NYC. The floor moved a little bit and they evacuated the building in an overabundance of caution. MTA says the subways and trains are unaffected.
Someday, joor goin' to see the name of Googie Gomez in lights and joor goin' to say to joorself, "Was that her?" and then joor goin' to answer to joorself, "That was her!" But you know somethin' mister? I was always her yuss nobody knows it! - Googie Gomez
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:43:00 PM
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To follow up on my earlier comment, I am 500 or 600 miles from NYC as the crow flies. Do folks who are that far apart from each other typically feel movement from the same quake? My only experience has been with quakes that are only "felt" very close to the center, within maybe 100 miles, with the more distant detection requiring instrumentation. What is typical for something of this scale?
August 23rd, 2011 at 12:55:35 PM
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Ya know what? Earthquakes are a LOT more common than the average person would believe.
This US Geological Service Latest Earthquakes in the World web page is kept up to date and lists the earthquakes in the last 7 days. It's a LONG list.
The first thing it shows is that there was an after-shock, 2.8 magnitude, near the first quake, but very near the surface.
[edit] Make that the second thing. A quake in the south Pacific was recorded while I was writing the above post.
This US Geological Service Latest Earthquakes in the World web page is kept up to date and lists the earthquakes in the last 7 days. It's a LONG list.
The first thing it shows is that there was an after-shock, 2.8 magnitude, near the first quake, but very near the surface.
[edit] Make that the second thing. A quake in the south Pacific was recorded while I was writing the above post.
I invented a few casino games. Info:
http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/
Superstitions are silly, irrational, childish rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:05:57 PM
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The New Madrid, Tennessee earthquake rang church bells in Boston so effects can be felt far away.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:09:00 PM
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Quote: DJTeddyBearYa know what? Earthquakes are a LOT more common than the average person would believe.
Of course. But most are so light you don't notice them without instruments.
Quote:The first thing it shows is that there was an after-shock, 2.8 magnitude, near the first quake, but very near the surface.
As someone on a first name basis with seismic activity, let me be the first to tell you that anything under 4.0 is beneath contempt :P
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:09:00 PM
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I know it can depend on the sub surface rocks... how well the geology transfers the energy out to the surroundings.
"Then you can admire the real gambler, who has neither eaten, slept, thought nor lived, he has so smarted under the scourge of his martingale, so suffered on the rack of his desire for a coup at trente-et-quarante" - Honore de Balzac, 1829
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:22:56 PM
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Quote: DocTo follow up on my earlier comment, I am 500 or 600 miles from NYC as the crow flies. Do folks who are that far apart from each other typically feel movement from the same quake? My only experience has been with quakes that are only "felt" very close to the center, within maybe 100 miles, with the more distant detection requiring instrumentation. What is typical for something of this scale?
Because the earthquake was shallow, and the east coast is not interrupted by mountain ranges, this earthquake was felt a long way. Much further than your typical West Coast earthquake.
Virginia has not had an earthquake of this magnitude in 100 years, and this one is 150 miles closer to the ocean than the one last century. It is very unusual to say the least. The last earthquake of this magnitude in VA was in 1897, which is very close in time to the mega earthquake in New Madrid MO in 1895.
Admittedly the reaction was probably a bit much, but people are not as jaded as they are on the West Coast. A lot of people assumed terrorist attacks.
Similarly if you look at damage contours from two earthquakes of similar magnitude, a repeat of the New Madrid earthquake from the 19th century would be far more expensive and cost more lives. The rivers would flood (a problem not expected in Southern California).
USGS estimates that a repeat of the New Madrid earthquake would be, far and away, the most expensive earthquake in US history.
August 23rd, 2011 at 4:03:20 PM
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I was working in my office in Alexandria, Va (on the 6th floor) when it hit today - at first I was like, what is that? It took me about halfway through it to realize what it was, and that point, everything was moving side to side in my office - to me the most disconcerting feeling was the fact that I could feel the floor pulsating like a sine wave at the same time. Being so close to the Federal Courthouse, I had to make sure it wasn't terrorism or something at first, but all of us were - "was that an Earthquake?"
No damage, but commuting home sucked royally today. I waited at work an extra 90 mins before even trying to get home.
-B
No damage, but commuting home sucked royally today. I waited at work an extra 90 mins before even trying to get home.
-B
August 23rd, 2011 at 4:11:26 PM
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I thought the New Madrid quakes were in 1811-12. Was there another smaller quake there in 1895?
Edit: I guess there was, but compared to the big ones there, 6.6 is nothing.
Edit: I guess there was, but compared to the big ones there, 6.6 is nothing.
Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes." ~ William Gibson
August 23rd, 2011 at 4:50:15 PM
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The East Coast is made of more solid, contiguous rocks. That means there are far fewer faults than in more active areas. And that means there are no break lines to check an earthquake's spread. So any quakes in the east are felt farther and stronger than they are in the west. On the other hand quakes are far less frequent in the east.
I just though up a forest analogy, but I'm at work and should pretend to be working :P
I just though up a forest analogy, but I'm at work and should pretend to be working :P
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
August 23rd, 2011 at 5:52:29 PM
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I have now been in 2 east coast earthquakes in 2 years or so and felt neither, though others with me did.
So today I could not come back to work from lunch because as I did there was a fire evacuation when someone burned their lunch in a toaster oven.
An hour later the county workers said, "we have to evacuate, there was an earthquake or something." I was like WTF, are you kidding around?
I will leave it to some of the better stat people as to the odds of having your building evacuated twice in the same day for different reasons.
So today I could not come back to work from lunch because as I did there was a fire evacuation when someone burned their lunch in a toaster oven.
An hour later the county workers said, "we have to evacuate, there was an earthquake or something." I was like WTF, are you kidding around?
I will leave it to some of the better stat people as to the odds of having your building evacuated twice in the same day for different reasons.
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
August 23rd, 2011 at 8:23:53 PM
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Best tweet of the day related to the Earthquake - "As all of Washington, DC leaves work at the same time, the US experiences a brief economic recovery"!
"Bite my Glorious Golden Ass!" - Bender Bending Rodriguez
August 23rd, 2011 at 8:54:25 PM
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Quote: avargovI thought the New Madrid quakes were in 1811-12. Was there another smaller quake there in 1895?
Edit: I guess there was, but compared to the big ones there, 6.6 is nothing.
The smaller quake in 1895 was in fact the largest to hit the same seismic zone since the big one in 1811. Since it happened so long, it is very speculative about what Richter level the 1811 quake was. It was certainly at least a 7.4 .
However the damage contours were designed to show how much larger an area the 1895 quake would affect, compared to the costly 1994 Northridge quake. But even in 1895 the area was still lightly populated.
A repeat of the 1811 earthquake would be the costliest earthquake in American history. In addition to the size of the area affected, unlike California, very few buildings are built to any kind of earthquake design code.
A population density map can be misleading since LA or San Francisco is so much larger than Memphis, St Louis,Nashville, Louisville or the Ohio cities. But all of them could be affected, whereas the California earthquakes only affect part of the city.
