BREAKING: 6.0 Quake Hits East Coast (Felt in D.C., New York City, North Carolina)

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Magnitude 6.0 quake hits U.S. East Coast
WASHINGTON | Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:01pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the U.S. East Coast from Virginia to Boston on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake was initially reported at 5.8 magnitude.

The Pentagon and U.S. Capitol Building in Washington were evacuated.

Read more: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE77M67120110823?irpc=932

---

Twitter Responds:

@KeithOlbermann: RT @WeaselBrau: @KeithOlbermann The Republican presidential hopefuls are scrambling to release statements blaming Obama for the DC quake

@jeremyscahill: Let's send a clear message to earthquake: Go shopping and blast Lee Greenwood songs.

[Robb]

1. 5.8, epicenter in Virginia, 89 miles from capitol

[Robb]

14. Map:

[Journeyman]

43. Yep. This was definitely Virginia's fault . . .

[Robb]

46. Indeed.

But they will probably try to blame it on West Virginia. :silly:

[Staph]

69. We felt it in West Virginia, too.

I'm glad we seceded from them 148 years ago, but we always get the blame for everything that goes wrong in Virginia!

[FarLeftFist]

80. Felt it here in NYC pretty strong.

[underpants]

189. Very funny

I was about 40 miles from the epicenter.

[Yavin4]

34. Isn't That Eric Cantor's District???

Just askin'.

[Robb]

41. LOL I was expecting someone to blame the DLC.

:)

[maddogesq]

118. The real reason for it.

The Human Cheeto farted.

[RamboLiberal]

64. Nah Sludge is already blaming Obama

He had the tenacity to be on the golf course and on vacation!

[tonekat]

200. I believe it is Cantor's district. N/T

[socialshockwave]

2. I felt it here.

Niagara Falls, Ontario. Wasn't much of one but it was weird.

[muffin1]

3. And here in Southern Virginia!

I'm home alone nursing a bad back - everything just suddenly started shaking. Scary!

[Hissyspit]

36. I'm in NC and was in the bathtub. I woke up with equilibrium problems this morning

from straining my neck by sleeping with my head too close to the headboard, so I was floating in water with equilibrium problems when the earthquake hit. I felt the tub vibrate and think I heard a small rumbling, but I never would have known it was an earthquake if not for Twitter. I thought it was my equilibrium problem!

Haven't felt an earthquake since I lived in Alaska in the mid 1970s.

[muffin1]

42. Oh, good lord.

I'm glad you're okay. I was just about to take a nap. I think I'll table that idea and maybe do a shot of Vodka...waiting for aftershocks now. I've never been in one in my life - I thought someone had run their car into our house.

Take care, and stay outta the tub for now!

[Hissyspit]

53. No, I'm still in here. Warm and soothing.

:-)

[Hissyspit]

55. @Reuters: FLASH: U.S. aviation authorities evacuate control towers at JFK, Newark airports - port au

@Reuters: FLASH: U.S. aviation authorities evacuate control towers at JFK, Newark airports - port authority

[Jamastiene]

96. I was asleep when it happened.

My aunt woke me up just as it was finishing up. What a rude awakening. I'm still sleepy.

[muffin1]

101. I was about to lie down. Glad I didn't - I don't like being awakened by things like that.

Glad you're okay! :hug:

[loudsue]

44. I'm in North Carolina, about 30 miles from Raleigh, and I felt the entire house shake.

I thought a truck or bull dozer had run into the house, TWICE, and I couldn't figure it out, since we're way out in the country, and not near a road. Scared me to death! All the dishes and windows were rattling, and it wounded really loud.

I'm about an hour and a half south of Richmond, Va. Whew!! We're not used to that (earthquakes) around here. We've all been worried about the hurricane headed this way!

[tpsbmam]

185. I'm in western NC (Asheville area) and immediately went online to check my perceptions....

was sure I felt a mild earthquake/barely perceptible tremors but, with MS, I'm used to feeling all kinds of weird things that turn out to be just my body going wacko.

Glad to know my sensory perceptions were reality-based for a change!

:rofl:

I've never felt an earthquake, though I gather we had about a 3.something one here in the wee hours of the morning a couple of years ago -- I slept through that one.

[Hissyspit]

188. 3.0 really is nothing. It was actually David Shuster who let me know there was an earthquake.

He sent out a Tweet as it was happening and it showed up on my phone. I think the Tweet may have shown up before the actual earthquake wave!

[Mass]

4. I felt it in Western Mass

[David Sky]

73. I think it's GOT to have something to do with allowing gays to marry in MA, NY, and DC....

just kidding... but wait for some religious nut to preach about this next Sunday!

Eastern Mass felt no such thing, at least as far as I can tell...but Niagara Falls Ontario, to South Carolina,

East Coast folks, such wimps!! (just kidding folks!)

By contrast California has one of these about every month... they know how these things go, a few seconds, it's over, get back to work.

All of the above is all in jest, people..

Actually, earthquakes on the east coast have a different pattern of dispersement than on the San Andreas fault. To begin with, the east coast faults are further inland, and the geologic structures down below are much different, much more coalesced than the faults in California, where sub faults and mountain ranges are millions of years newer. Fact! So feeling something like this over 1000 miles is much more possible on the east coast than in the west, even at the same magnitude.

[lindysalsagal]

85. No, silly. It only happened because Obama was on vacation.

:crazy:

[David Sky]

182. Oh sorry, yes,I should have known

Martha's Vinyard, THE only safe place to be!

He planned this, we should have known!

[bushmeister0]

5. And Philly, too.

[msanthrope]

75. Oh, yeah--stuff off my wall, here... n/t

[RandySF]

6. A 5.8?

That's barely worth getting up from my nap.

[Ruby the Liberal]

16. LOL! Yeah, from cali standards it wasn't much

but here on the east coast, it was freaky. I had never felt one before and I am a few hundred miles away.

[theHandpuppet]

49. Predictable ignorant comments from CA

A shallow, 6.0 quake in this part of the country has a much different effect due to the differences in the bedrock. It seems Californians think they own earthquakes and one earthquake is like the next.

[loudsue]

76. You can inform people with your vast knowledge without being snarky.

Not everyone knows about how earthquakes work.

[theHandpuppet]

78. Then before they make their own snarky comments...

...they can inform themselves about the nature of earthquakes. We don't even know yet about any possible injuries or damage, yet their are several posts here from Californians making fun of, even laughing about this quake. Funny, I can't remember EVER making light of an earthquake no matter where it happened.

[loudsue]

82. You've completely lost perspective. Their humor isn't hurting anyone,

and has not been malicious. Your self-righteousness, however, is pretty snarky. If you're such a caring person that concern for whomever in Richmond might be hurt makes you snarky, then care about how people have to put up with the hardship of your attitude. How people TREAT one another is as damaging, in the long run, as any earthquake.

[theHandpuppet]

123. Laughing at others' misfortunes isn't exactly a example of...

...a caring attitude or compassion. Sorry, but I find nothing funny about folks who might be going through an earthquake, flood, et al. I'vs spotted no fewer than three posters from CA on this thread whose first response was to mock this event and folks' reaction to it. Maybe you could lecture them about THEIR attitudes and snarkiness.

[kentauros]

133. Your best course of action then would be to use the "Alert" button.

Being insensitive to others is against DU rules, and is there to help the mods in big threads like this.

By the way, I agree with you, too :hi:

[freeplessinseattle]

142. absolutely agree. things like show the best and worst of people

Very sorry you had to go through that. Earthquakes are very scary and very real, no matter where you are. You have every right to feel as you do. (((Take care)))

[lindysalsagal]

186. Or, if you're too sensitive or lacking a sence of humor, read Jane Austin.

No one is making anyone read these posts. If it's too much to take, just turn off the puter.
Honestly. Why is humor not allowed on this board?

[Xithras]

134. Ah, no.

The behavior of earthquake waves are pretty much identical no matter where they happen. You get hit with the p-waves, followed by the s-waves, and then the damaging surface waves.

The only real difference the underlying geology makes is to the distance the waves can travel and do damage. A 6.0 earthquake in an area sitting on shallow bedrock can transmit the quake waves much further than a quake epicentered in an area with deep sedimentary soils. The damage from the quake is the same, but the radius of its impact changes.

Californians make comments about earthquakes because they're such a regular part of life for us. The big ones make the national news, but California experiences so many earthquakes that most just get a paragraph in the local papers, if even that. It's old hat for us, so it's odd to see other people reacting with panic to them.

[Gormy Cuss]

192. No, Californians know that each one is different, even if they like to joke about it.

We have low magnitude shallow quakes that do considerably more damage than higher magnitude deep ones. We know that damage differences can be enormous even within the quake zone based on the ground (those burning houses in the 1989 San Francisco quake were in a neighborhood built on fill, for example.)

The big difference between our quakes and the one today on the East Coast is that we have building codes designed with earthquakes in mind. After today's quake I predict they'll find less obvious structural damage in masonry structures for months if not years.

[Retrograde]

115. This Californian begs to differ

I'll get up for a 5.0 or better; less than that and I just nudge the nearest cat off the bed. But since this was on the East Coast and near DC we're going to hear about it ad nauseam.

Building standards are a lot different back east, and they're not used to earthquakes. I don't know how deep the fault line runs there, but California faults tend to be shallow, causing a lot of shaking but not that much damage to buildings built to code.

Come to think of it, we've been rather quiet seismically of late...

[alsame]

7. I felt it here in NY suburbs - pictures fell off the walls. nt

[BlueMTexpat]

86. Same here in MD - the DC suburbs.

Like some others here, I first thought that there was a VERY heavy truck rattling around outside, but just as I was heading for the window to see the whole house began to shake.

I went to a door jamb area and held on. I was still rocked back and forth and the shaking went on for quite a while.

All of us then scrambled outside to see a lot of bewildered-looking neighbors for a major bonding moment. No one was hurt, but people were very shaken up.

[alsame]

88. You're closer, it was probably worse for you. But the swaying made

me nauseous, so I can imagine how bad it was for you. Glad everyone's okay.

[BlueMTexpat]

92. Same here - I hope that will turn out to be the case for everyone. nt

[theHandpuppet]

129. I ran next door to check on my elderly neighbor

He's confined to a wheelchair and is home alone during most of the day now that school has started. He was okay but everything here in the eastern WV panhandle was shaken and many of the old bulidings here are unreinforced masonry.

[BlueMTexpat]

191. Good for you! nt

[Ter]

8. Felt it while in NY

I thought I was getting dizzy.

[closeupready]

9. I didn't feel it, myself.

But everyone else did.

[Island Blue]

10. I'm on the Outer Banks of NC

and we just felt it. I'm at work in a big brick building, and the entire building wobbled. Very freaky!

[Ruby the Liberal]

18. OBX? Be safe. Irene is heading your way.

I hope you are evacuating.

[Island Blue]

51. Thanks. I'll probably stay put

(sometimes leaving is more dangerous believe it or not) but I will hunker down, for sure!

[aquart]

28. So did my Manhattan brownstone.

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. I felt it here, 225 miles away from the epicenter

That was freaky.

Never felt an EQ before. I thought someone drove into my house.

[ileus]

12. and Princeton WV...

[villager]

13. Well, that's one "California experience" under your belts

You might want to pass on the raging wildfires, though....

[aquart]

15. 5.8 in Virginia.

[Purveyor]

17. Holy crap! I'm sitting here in mid-michigan and I thought I was having a spell.

Working at the computer and it felt like I was rocking slightly.

[LaurenG]

19. Cincinnati too. nt

[ellie]

23. I'm in Toledo

and I didn't feel anything.

[LaurenG]

30. I watched the water in my bottle rock back and forth for a good 30 seconds

It was unnoticed by the rest of the staff. I thought my pulse (heart?) was shaking me, figured I needed to see the cardiologist.

[Robb]

20. Reuters reporting Pentagon, Captol bldg evacuated. Upgraded to 6.0. Link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/23/us-quake-usa-idUSTRE77M67120110823

[Jamastiene]

119. So, if the House is rockin', don't bother knockin'

Because all the Representatives will be outside. :hide:

[djg21]

21. Felt it in Albany, NY

nt

[onehandle]

22. MSNBC just said the earthquake in Japan was 1000x stronger.

But they still call it 'significant,' for the the strength and area I assume.

[Ruby the Liberal]

33. I have lived on the east coast for all of my 40+ years and have NEVER felt one before

Yeah, I would say its significant.

[spinbaby]

24. Felt it in Pittsburgh

I always thought I'd feel my first earthquake in California.

[RamboLiberal]

68. Damn I missed it in Pittsburgh

I was out walking and didn't feel but coworker in car in our lot & coworkers in our 2 story building all felt and saw/felt objects shaking.

[Xipe Totec]

25. Map Centered at 37°N, 80°W

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/32.42.-85.-75.php

[Xipe Totec]

35. If you felt it, report it at the USGS site above

[Viva_La_Revolution]

54. and EarthquakeReport.com

http://earthquake-report.com/ Did you feel it?

they have a report up on the damage from the 5.5 mag in Colorado yesterday, they should have a report up on this one soon.

[florida08]

26. weird to have been felt so far along the coast

Reports say it was felt in Martha's Vineyard. Washington needs to be shook

updated to a 6.0

[Glimmer of Hope]

27. Everyone is out on the street in DC. It felt small and I don't see any structural damage

downtown.

[robcon]

29. I didn't feel it in NY.

n/t

[deutsey]

31. I felt it here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland

We had to evacuate the building.

[carolinayellowdog]

32. very intense here in southern VA

a friend called from near Winston-Salem NC and said it was equally rough there-- everything in the house rattling and an eerie rumbling too

[florida08]

geez shocks felt in Wisconsin?

South Carolina government evacuated ..Delaware too..damn the east coast is going to fall off

[Zenlitened]

37. Felt it, very slightly, here in Massachusetts north of Boston - n/t

[DontTreadOnMe]

38. Felt it strong in Central New Jersey

My desk moved back and forth... at first I thought I was dizzy.

[SoapBox]

39. Hilarious!

Welcome to the world of Southern California!

Next stop for you...falling off into the Atlantic.

LOLOLOL...since all we hear from East Coasters is how we are going into the Pacific.

Sorry...I just think this is too, too funny.

[theHandpuppet]

56. Take a course in geology 101

Some of the smartass comments here from Californians are predictable and tiresome. Not all earthquakes are created equal and a shallow, 6.0 earthquake on the east coast has a very different effect than ones on the west coast due to differences in the bedrock. I hope no one near the epicenter of this quake was seriously injured but then you find it all so funny.

[SoapBox]

67. blah, blah, blah...

The East has faults and sits on a "plate"...there are minor quakes...and this is not a surprise to geologists.

I've been barraged by East Coasters for YEARS with snark about falling off into the ocean (I've been traveling heavily to the East for 30 years).

So...smartass comments? Get real.

Thus far, no reports of serious injury or death...and in no way would I want that.

You now can feel exactly how we feel.

[florida08]

87. It's after lunch now

snarkiness window has closed :evilgrin:

[obxhead]

139. You should be careful, you might display some compassion.

I happen to live in Mineral VA and was at home at the time of this quake.

You complain of snark from your eastern friends about quakes. Not all of us do that.

It's nice to learn now that you're exactly the same as the people giving you that snark. ;)

[Nordmadr]

40. Shook the building a little bit here, in Utica, New York. N/T

[jtrockville]

45. Shook us GOOD here in Rockville, MD

[unblock]

47. our building in connecticut shook for about 10 seconds

they now have it as a 5.9:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/usc0005ild.php

Earthquake Details
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude 5.9
Date-Time Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 17:51:03 UTC
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 01:51:03 PM at epicenter

Location 37.975°N, 77.969°W
Depth 1 km (~0.6 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region VIRGINIA
Distances 6 km (4 miles) SSE (152°) from Louisa, VA
6 km (4 miles) SW (236°) from Mineral, VA
26 km (16 miles) SE (133°) from Gordonsville, VA
32 km (20 miles) E (79°) from Lake Monticello, VA
66 km (41 miles) NW (318°) from Richmond, VA
134 km (83 miles) SW (219°) from Washington, DC

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 10.9 km (6.8 miles); depth +/- 7.4 km (4.6 miles)
Parameters NST=390, Nph=390, Dmin=57.9 km, Rmss=1.17 sec, Gp= 47°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=6
Source Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID usc0005ild

[LynneSin]

48. NOthing like being in a tall building when it starts shaking - Wilmington DE

Mind you it's only a 20story building but was shaking big time.

[Nihil]

84. First quake for me - on the 23rd floor in NY!

Nothing dramatic, just felt weird - especially when I realised that
any of the alternative explanations simply didn't apply here & now.

Well, that put a little spice on my trip over the pond! :hi:

[FirstLight]

50. It's interesting that it is felt so far from epicenter...

looked at the US geological map and i guess most of the eastern seaboard is silt deposits, which would carry the vibration farther...
whereas here on the west coast, it's more granite and volcanic rock...so maybe that's why we don;t feel a 6.0 in LA all the way to oregon...

:shrug: Maybe it's also because we are 'used' to them...

http://tapestry.usgs.gov/features/features.html

[theHandpuppet]

70. Old bedrock and a shallow quake

The effects travel a long way.

[FirstLight]

127. ya, thanks

I am not a geologist, but i could tell there was something about the makeup there that made it so 'big'

wow, that area is SO not okay for seismic activity... :scared:

now, what about the theories that polar ice-melt is screwing the earth's crust up? :shrug:

[bpositive]

52. Felt it in

Hartford, CT. I was sitting at my computer and started feeling a little nauseous- thought that I was having a dizzy spell.

[Hissyspit]

60. See my post #36.

I WAS having a dizzy spell.

[boycottfaux]

57. I felt it too (yawn)

I work across from WTC site and felt the quake.  Evacuating
buildings on lower Broadway; shelves moved in Duane Reade
drugstore.  I'm not going anywhere.  I can't let the
terrorists win again, I'm tired or running besides I didn't
wear my sneakers today . .

[LuckyStrykes]

58. A 6.0 can cause major damage in area that does not have

earthquake codes. I can imagine a lot of overhead (light fixtures, etc.,) falling.

[supernova]

59. felt it in Durham NC

It made the large LCD tv shake on the console so bad, I thought it might fall. :wow:

[nclib]

121. It's weird.

I'm like 5 minutes from you and we felt nothing.

[supernova]

126. Definitely weird

Different soil?

[cppuddy]

61. We felt it at work in Warwick, Rhode Island. Very Weird Sensation.

[leftynyc]

Had to evacuate our building in

midtown Manhattan. Felt the shaking and it set the fire alarm off. The streets are packed with people.

[florida08]

62. North Anna Nuclear plant

near the epicenter has tripped it's safety backups. Others are inspecting towers around the area..Amtrak checking rails

[obxhead]

137. Living 2 miles away from that plant...

It was my very first concern.

Having never been through an earthquake it was a scary thing to go through.

[florida08]

176. oh my

that's very scary. Seem like the safety backups worked well though. We have a bunch of those things here up and down the coast.

[davidwparker]

63. I'm in VA, but was on my Tempurpedic bed at the time, so

I didn't feel anything.

Darn.

[Jamastiene]

104. Lol

I was asleep on my memory foam bed. The quake didn't wake me up but my aunt freaking out and calling me did.

[DotGone]

65. Felt it here in Boston. n/t

[Flaxbee]

66. Guess what is about 20 miles from there? Lake Anna Nuclear Power Plant

Oh joy.

[Ruby the Liberal]

74. Twitter is saying this is Eric Cantor's district

Can you confirm?

[obxhead]

184. Yes it is Cantors district.

Never thought our quaint little town of Mineral would make global news.

[Ruby the Liberal]

195. Well, inasmuch as global news goes, it could have been for a MUCH MUCH worse reason!

[obxhead]

196. yeah,

like the Anna power station going up in a mushroom cloud.

Things could definitely be worse here.

[DiverDave]

71. People are FREAKING!

Gawd is coming!, we are all gonna DIE!!

I'm outside Philly, I didnt even feel it, my son asked and I told him a big truck went by on the street outside.
My cell phone and land line are offline...go figure.
I was in Long beach during Loma Prieta, I didnt even feel this.

These folks are going overboard.

[Phoonzang]

72. I felt in in Newark, DE

Very unique sensation.

[woodsprite]

102. Yeah, I thought it was my cubby mate shaking his leg,

working on a problem. Then I realized the sensation was getting stronger and everybody's monitors were shaking.

[LynneSin]

107. We felt it big in Wilmington but then again I'm near the 20th floor

weird.

Especially when you look outside and it's all sunny and calm outside.

[msanthrope]

77. Have the Republicans Released a Statement Blaming Obama Yet? nt

[Hosnon]

79. I felt it in Georgia!

:P

Hope everyone is okay and damage is minimal!

[florida08]

89. what part?

Sitting here in N.Fl. all quiet here

[Hosnon]

91. I fibbed.

No rumbling here.

[florida08]

95. gonna get my whip..

:spray:

[RebelOne]

110. Thought you fibbed. I'm in Georgia too and nothing. n/t

[Hosnon]

179. Wow - the local rag is reporting that it WAS felt here:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2011-08-23/earthquake-rattles-local-homes-businesses?v=1314119644

[nolabear]

81. Was anyone else listening to Thom Hartmann? He was interviewing a woman

(sorry I don't recall who) and all of a sudden said, "Is the building shaking? Are we having an earthquake? Should we leave the building?" After a quiet moment a voice said "You're on the air" and Thom said "I was worried about a bomb but we'll keep going unless we have another one." (All this is paraphrased a bit of course) The poor woman had a hard time continuing but they did troop on.

Hope you're all okay out there! Having just left the Outer Banks I feel as though I'm dodging all kinds of bullets!

[distantearlywarning]

83. Felt it in Pittsburgh, PA

Was very minor, thought I was having a little vertigo, then realized it must have been a small earthquake. It must have been a good one in DC if I was able to feel it all the way out here.

[IcyPeas]

90. subways?

did they experience anything down there (any power outages or anything)? that would be really frightening.

[florida08]

93. geologist on MSNBC

said the reason it was felt so far was the east coast ground is different from west. West is like shaking jello where east is shaking rock.:shrug:

[Blue_Tires]

94. I'm in Norfolk and didn't feel a thing

I must be the only one, though...Most people freaked out for the first few minutes after...

[Turk 182]

97. felt it here on Long Island

Wading River, NY-- the deck swayed for a few seconds- very weird.

[Glimmer of Hope]

98. This is weird...

US Marshals, Secret Service and 10 or so sharpshooters are all along a street off Penn Ave that I can see from my apartment in DC. They just taped off the street.

[Glimmer of Hope]

108. Never mind. A high profile person must have been in the area.

I haven't seen that much action since the leader of Hamas was around. - That was pretty tame compared to today's action.

[slackmaster]

99. Life jackets have been issued to all East Coast residents!!!

[Hissyspit]

100. @markos Obama just downgraded it to a 5.0 because Olympia Snowe said it was too big.

[florida08]

103. hehe..the bar is open

[struggle4progress]

105. Sash springs in my windows rattled noisily. First reaction was "Must be a big truck going by fast"

But then house reverberated slightly as if hit by a couple of sonic booms, with lots of sash spring noise from several windows. Finally went outside to look. Didn't see anything

[Myrina]

106. ... and a 5.5'er in Colorado ... any relation?

... are they along the same latitude or fault line or something? :shrug: Jus' askin' ....

[slackmaster]

109. Same planet

That's about it.

[Myrina]

111. Wow, thanks for taking the time to post that witty response.

:eyes:

[valerief]

113. Good question. nt

[florida08]

120. San Diego says

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/23/60-earthquake-rattles-virginia-area/

San Diego State University, says it is clear that the two events are not related. "The Colorado quake did not trigger the Virginia quake. This is pure coincidence."

How they know that I sure don't know

[kentauros]

130. This FAQ page on the USGS site may offer an explanation on that:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/faults_east.php

I haven't had time to read the whole thing, but skimming it does point out that while earthquakes in California can be associated with a specific known fault, that's harder to do east of the Rockies, partly because larger quakes are so rare. However, I also saw the sentence, "We don't know why." So, even the professionals don't understand eastern earthquakes like they do for the western ones ;)

[valerief]

112. Oy vey, Congress will now fund a War on Earthquakes! nt

[newspeak]

198. what do you mean?

the repugs wanted to cut the USGS budget and I believe Cantor was one of them.

I've lived in one of the most seismic active areas in northern california. Because of California's seismic activity building codes are different from the eastern states. When the 1906 earthquake hit SF, it also affected Ferndale CA. Most of main street's buildings were made of bricks. Every brick building except one (the bar) collapsed. I know back east, there are many buildings made of brick and that can be quite disturbing.

[Behind the Aegis]

114. My parents in Fayetteville felt it!

[neohippie]

122. Greensboro NC

It was felt here in Greensboro North Carolina, and south of us towards Sanford, for a good 10 seconds with an audible low rumble

[bigworld]

116. Another 2.8 aftershock

I have the feeling this isn't over yet

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/se082311b.php

[bikebloke]

117. Sitting outside for lunch.

I was in the park, when the bench started swaying back and forth. I didn't hear the low pitched rumbling, but maybe it was drowned out by all the white noise. The waterfall at the head of the pond turned off suddenly. Then mobs came spilling out of the office building and hotel. A helicopter took off from the White House. Cops threw down their donuts to look busy. The hotel workers were shepherded back to work first. Big shots in suits patrolled for those lingering outside. Everyone waited and waited for the OK to re-enter the building. No hurry. It's a lovely day to hang around outside.

[MisterP]

177. that was poetry worthy of Thurber

[mikeytherat]

124. I'm 45 miles SE of the epicenter, and it was a really good shake out here!

About five or six years ago, in the same area, there was a 5.3-ish quake, and I rode that one, too. The one from several years ago was louder, and seemed more like a series of explosions; today's was much more focused and intense, and really shook my four-story house. And as before, my cats knew it first - seconds before it hit, my grey tabby, Weird Harold, shot from the living room and up the stairs (to hide under the bed).

mikey_the_rat

[Hissyspit]

141. My cats were outside, so I don't know how they were behaving.

Ray cat sure was in a hurry to come inside when I opened the door about an hour later, though.

[BigD_95]

125. felt it here in York, PA

[lovuian]

128. China hit us with a HAARP attack

got the Pentagon's attention

[Dappleganger]

131. My sister is in Fredericksburg, VA....

she said the dogs ran down to the basement about two hours prior to the earthquake and refused to come up. They're all fine (their house is fairly new) but they are surrounded by old historical buildings which may have suffered some damage. My father is in Williamsburg and he felt it as well.

[Ruby the Liberal]

197. 2 hours? The animal sense of this stuff is nothing short of mind blowing.

I am surprised we haven't heard more stories like this today.

[AngryAmish]

132. Plague of frogs next?

[Jamastiene]

138. Planet Earth Doesn't Know How To Make It Any Clearer

http://www.theonion.com/articles/planet-earth-doesnt-know-how-to-make-it-any-cleare,20639/

:rofl:

[Cognitive_Resonance]

135. Very intense near Tyson's Corner VA (15mi SW of DC). Medium rise building was swaying violently near

the end. At least 30 second duration. Cracked cinder block, plaster on floor, etc. The last few seconds were the worst.

[Hissyspit]

140. Weather Channel showed footage from Tyson's Corner of a couple of cars crushed by bricks that fell

from an apartment building wall.

They also just showed brick damage to buildings in Mineral, Virginia.

[bikebloke]

136. The UPS man was just by.

He said a couple government building here in DC sent everyone home after the quake. The buildings are old and needed to be inspected.

[brooklynite]

143. Magnitude 5.9 - VIRGINIA (official USGS report)

Source: US Geoloogical Survey

Magnitude 5.9
Date-Time

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 17:51:03 UTC
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 01:51:03 PM at epicenter

Location 37.975°N, 77.969°W
Depth 1 km (~0.6 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region VIRGINIA
Distances

6 km (4 miles) SSE (152°) from Louisa, VA
6 km (4 miles) SW (236°) from Mineral, VA
26 km (16 miles) SE (133°) from Gordonsville, VA
66 km (41 miles) NW (318°) from Richmond, VA
134 km (83 miles) SW (219°) from Washington, DC

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 10.9 km (6.8 miles); depth +/- 7.4 km (4.6 miles)
Parameters NST=390, Nph=390, Dmin=57.9 km, Rmss=1.17 sec, Gp= 47°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=6
Source

Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID usc0005ild

Read more: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005ild.php

[PSUDem]

144. Felt it in DC

N/T

[JHB]

145. Felt on Long Island, NYC, and norther NJ too.

[rfranklin]

159. Morristown NJ...the house was creaking and my chair swayed a lot...

Reminded me of the first time I experience and earthquake in Haiti. I think it was 1960. Sitting at my school desk and feeling the chair sway.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

146. Felt it in Raleigh, NC.

Definitely a *weird* sensation.

[Roland99]

150. you might be feeling the effects of Irene in a few days, too.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

169. LOL...thanks.

I already have the fixins for Hurricanes; not familiar with an Earthquake cocktail.

[Roland99]

147. Felt it in Orlando, FL

oh wait....no I didn't... :-)

[KamaAina]

148. Yikes! I have a friend in Louisa.

The funny thing is, we just met up in L.A. No quakes there.

[Sinistrous]

149. Felt in south central PA.

Definitely a "What the heck was that?" moment.

[gauguin57]

153. Same here, in Lancaster, PA.

House swayed back and forth a bit, and there was a bit of a rattle. But I hear from suburban D.C. friends that stuff flew off their shelves.

[Curmudgeoness]

151. Felt in Youngstown OH. nt

[LynneSin]

152. OMG - I'm near the top floor in one of the tall buildings in Wilmington

man it shook

[Tracer]

154. Felt it in Massachusetts!

My house shook for at least 20 seconds. Everything was rattling. I nearly was knocked off my chair!

[mainegreen]

161. Shook the hell out of us in Portland Maine.

Make me so dizzy I almost tossed my cookies. :/

[RamboLiberal]

155. Felt in Pittsburgh PA

I was walking outside & didn't feel but several coworkers in lunch room said TV & table & floor was shaking.

[necso]

156. "Depth 1 km (~0.6 mile) (poorly constrained)" /nt

[bigworld]

158. My undershorts were poorly constrained after that!

Suburban DC here (Silver Spring). Pictures shook on the walls and generally scared the bejebus out of everyone.

[necso]

160. Following the table on this page

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

there is a link for "Did you feel it?".

Right-click, properties gives me this link:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/c0005ild/us/index.html

The more "shake" data the better.

[TupperHappy]

181. I was in the bathroom when it happened

...knew I shouldn't have eaten that chimichunga.

[necso]

171. Data update: "Depth 6 km (3.7 miles)" /nt

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

157. Felt in Wilmington, NC

as if we didn't have enough to deal with right now....

[WorseBeforeBetter]

170. Good luck.

I'm in Raleigh and expect rain, but you guys? Yow.

[Yavapai]

162. Welcome to the California sport of land-surfing.

Hope everyone is okay after this, 5.9 is a scary experience.

[Newcanuck]

163. Felt it here in Toronto

and it's just about a year since we had the last one.

[FarLeftFist]

164. Felt it here in NYC pretty strong.

[trayfoot]

165. Was about 50 miles west of the epicenter

in the grocery store. The big shelves started snaking and items started flying off the shelves! It took a second to realize what it was, since we usually don't have these. I left my cart and went outside the store.

[newspeak]

199. do not run outside during an earthquake

that's one way of getting hit by falling debris. Get under a table or stand under a doorway. Stay away from windows and don't run out of the building.

[xiamiam]

202. i live in california..i never stay in..gotta get out into the wide open spaces..

i know thats not what they say but ive been in a lot of them and the only way im staying in is if i cant get out and that's happened a few times..when the walls of an old cabin were like jello and stairways in an earthquake are tricky as they move from side to side

[nolabear]

166. Wow. I'm impressed how far reaching this was! Didn't feel a thing in Seattle, though.

Seriously, hold on East Coasters. Aftershocks may follow.

[Bigmack]

167. So now the terrorists can

even make the earth move! Or maybe heaven really IS on their side! Or something..... Ms Bigmack

[Beacool]

168. Felt it along the NJ/NY metropolitan area.

Scores of buildings were evacuated on either side of the Hudson river. I'm on the 31st floor and we felt it.

:-(

[BigD_95]

172. I felt this in York, PA

freaked me out a little

[tpsbmam]

173. Felt in the Blue Ridge mountains of western NC! nt

[TK421]

174. Felt it here in Philly area at work..the chair I was sitting on moved

and the front desk ( which is fully attached to the floor ) shook

I had to check the hospital floors for structural damage

[Leontius]

175. 50 miles away felt nothing

[Meshuga]

178. Felt it at work in downtown DC. The freaky part is that dust was coming down from the ceiling.

I thought it was going to be a typical light tremor (it ended up being one) but it freaked me out when there was dust coming down from the ceiling during the tremor. My employer let everyone go home but I didn't have the guts to take the Metro home.

[Auntie Bush]

180. I'm in southern VT and felt nothing! Nada!

But those to the east, west and north of us felt it...that's strange!

[David Sky]

183. No, you have Bernie Sanders to protect you!

He saved you from the shakes!

Only idiots were affected, lots in NYC!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

187. Note found on Harold Camping's door: "So long, suckers!"

ruh-roh

[underpants]

190. Here in Richmond it was a day no one will forget

My wife works on the 7th floor so they were outside for an hour.

I thought the AC came on and then it felt like a rush across the floor. Just as I was about to lean out of my office to ask if a co-worker felt it IT was apparent that it was an earthquake. We stayed in doorways (should have gone outside). One floor building.

[Imajika]

193. Here in Northern Virginia....

...the office building I was in shook very violently. When the earthquake began I was confused as I have never experienced one, I just wasn't sure what was happening. The quake seemed to grow in intensity, there was a tremendously loud sound, after a few seconds it got strong enough to be really quite scary. I did think the building I was in would fall down on us. I am still stunned the whole thing happened. Never imagined I'd ever feel such a strong quake. I now have a new appreciation for the power of these earthquakes. They'd always just been something I saw on TV before, but now I know how frightening it feels to be in one.

[liberal N proud]

194. Experienced it here west side of Cleveland

Didn't know what it was but in a meeting the video on the screen was shaking. Later learned of the quake and deduced it must have been what caused the shaking video as the projector hanging from the ceiling felt the movements.

It was weird.

[tonekat]

201. I was at work in downtown Bethesda, MD

And where was I? In the loo, since I was about to go to a 2pm meeting. I thought, "Either the building is flying through turbulence, or it's an earthquake...here...on the East Coast and definitely not a little one!". As it turned out, I was able to contemplate the duration and severity and the rareness of it, while sitting there. The shaking must have gone on for 20 to 30 seconds, and made me wonder what, exactly was going to be the outcome. I couldn't wait to get outside the ladies' room to see other's reaction. I opened the door, which was right near the stairwell. People were taking the stairs (we have no evacuation plan), and I went to my cube and got my purse and briefcase. I heard one of the guys say it was being felt in NY. I am walking with a cane these days pending a total hip replacement, and walked down 10 flights of our 15 story building. One of my younger co workers took my hand, she was pretty upset about it. Everyone in downtown Bethesda was outside. We hung around outside and went back in about half an hour later and had our meeting. They dismissed us after that, and as soon as I got home, I had to take a nap, probably from the adrenalin surge. At home in VA, I had to straighten a lamp, and pick some item out of the sinks and some lipstick that fell off the edge of my bureau. Felt in 22 states.