# MId-Atlantic Earthquake!



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Unusual for this area. CNN is reporting it as a 5.8 centered 85 miles SW of DC. Felt it pretty strongly here near Philly: distinct sideways shaking of my house for maybe 20 seconds or so.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

We even felt it up here in Toronto.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Daniel Arenson said:


> We even felt it up here in Toronto.


Wow! What little I know about it, that seems to be a characteristic of East Coast earthquakes: the vibrations travel much further through the bedrock compared to the West Coast.


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

nada here in the south...


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2011)

For the first three seconds, I thought it was one of the big trailers driving by because sometimes the windows shake a little when they barrel by.  But when it kept going we all stopped and said "CRAP! Earthquake!" followed by "Cool!"

I can't make a call on my cellphone.  Either we lost a tower or the lines are crammed with people calling each other all at the same time.

In South ********.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> For the first three seconds, I thought it was one of the big trailers driving by because sometimes the windows shake a little when they barrel by. But when it kept going we all stopped and said "CRAP! Earthquake!" followed by "Cool!"
> 
> I can't make a call on my cellphone. Either we lost a tower or the lines are crammed with people calling each other all at the same time.
> 
> In South Jersey.


That's pretty much what I was thinking (in South Jersey, too): at first I thought a heavy truck or construction vehicle, then it got stronger and I felt the house moving side to side, and I thought, "So that's what an earthquake feels like." (The few much weaker ones I've been in, I either slept through or probably thought it was something else like construction.)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It was quite exciting.  . . . they've happened here before, but not as strong and usually are only 10-20 seconds.  This one didn't stop after 15, in fact the shaking was getting stronger and I heard something fall and crash upstairs.  So I headed to the cupboard under the stairs. . .it was a good 15-20 seconds more before it settled down.

Phones seem to be having issues. . .Comcast landline isn't working, though the internet and cable is fine.  And Verizon's wireless system is full.

This is apparently the biggest quake in this area since 1837 or so.


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## Erick Flaig (Oct 25, 2010)

My office in Altoona, PA, shook for about thirty seconds.  Weird!  First one I've ever been in.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Yeah here in Wash, DC area felt it real bad.
They say 5.8 with epicenter in VA.  Like last time.

Be careful.
It will be an early commute.
Most buildings are "closed" until certified.
But it will be a very long commute because everyone will be leaving at the same time.

Will post later, when I get home.

Just sayin......


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> For the first three seconds, I thought it was one of the big trailers driving by because sometimes the windows shake a little when they barrel by. But when it kept going we all stopped and said "CRAP! Earthquake!" followed by "Cool!"
> 
> I can't make a call on my cellphone. Either we lost a tower or the lines are crammed with people calling each other all at the same time.
> 
> In South Jersey.


I used to live in Maryland near D. C., and we had a small earthquake not far from our home. I thought the same thing you did - that it was a truck backfiring or something. The cats were outside and they ran into the house and hid under the bed. I didn't think twice about it until the I heard on the news later that day there was an earthquake at about 8:30 in the morning. That's when I heard the "truck" and the cats went scattering. Very strange. I remember reading that people living closer to he epicenter saw pictures on their walls shake.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Well here in Crystal City VA, I watched the street light poles sway outside.


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## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

Felt a bit of shaking and rolling down here.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I am traveling at a work meeting in Richmond.  I'm told epicenter is about 45 miles away.  Chandeliers in hotel meeting room shook violently for maybe half a minute.  Speakers hesitated, but they didn't even adjourn our meeting!  We are on break now. I had to struggle to call relatives, phone network is bonkers.

I was nervous enough to make sure I wasn't under a chandelier while it was happening.

I'd never experienced an earthquake at all till three years ago, now this is my fifth perceptible earthquake in a couple of years!  This one was worst, but fortunately all are merely interesting.  Laughable by West Coast standard.


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## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

This is the first time that I have felt the effects of an earthquake and it was strange.  I live right outside of Philadelphia and was sitting on the couch talking on the phone to my daughter.  It felt as though someone was behind the couch and shaking it.  Then I noticed that the hanging lights in the kitchen and dining room were swaying back and forth.  My daughter who lives in the Pocono Mountains felt her house shake as well.  Things seem to have returned to normal around here.  I hope that those closer to the epicenter remain safe.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

As if that weren't enough, we're now in the "high" threat level path for hurricane Irene.


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## rho (Feb 12, 2009)

We were in the living room and our recliners were rocking north and south and the fan was shaking back an forth  -- it lasted about 25-35 seconds... Long enough that hubby and I were looking around and then looked at each other then relized other things were rocking along with the chairs (obvious to look at chair arms moving against the floor too so good movement)  we are out on the eastern end of Long Island, NY...


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## Liv James (Feb 16, 2011)

I was at work here in PA. Our building shook and a few things fell down. Now the bridges out of town are closed because they've discovered cracks in them. We're all busy finding alternate routes to get home. One thing's for sure - productivity on the East Coast is WAY down this afternoon, lol.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

I didn't feel anything in WV but I think I was probably on the treadmill at about that time.  I was making the earth shake enough on my own that I might have just missed it.


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

I'm in the Virginia suburbs of DC, and it was REALLY strong here. I lived in L.A. for nine years and NEVER felt anything like this!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Government workers were sent home when it happened -- non-essential personnel, that is.  And they just showed a picture of the National Episcopal Cathedral and one of the spires at the very top is broken off.  The nuclear power plant on lake Anna shut down automatically and will stay on diesel until they check everything.  They're checking all buildings and bridges and running metro trains at half speed.  I'm kind of surprised we haven't heard about water main breaks so far. . . . .

Oh, and the crash I heard was my porcelain flute from China falling off the book case and breaking into 4 pieces.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

At first, I thought it was a bomb! The earthquake was 5.8. I've never felt anything like this!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

have merged several threads about the Earthquake on the east side of the US. . . . .sorry for any confusion.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I am traveling at a work meeting in Richmond. I'm told epicenter is about 45 miles away. Chandeliers in hotel meeting room shook violently for maybe half a minute. Speakers hesitated, but they didn't even adjourn our meeting! We are on break now. I had to struggle to call relatives, phone network is bonkers.


That's probably about right. Charlottesville is about 35 miles west of the epicenter. Our building was shaking violently, I was in the video studio with a co-worker when it started - and had JUST stepped off the elevator. Our studio lights were shaking and one of the "gels" fell out. We were recording a couple of classes when it hit. I can't wait to watch them 
At home (about 35 miles west of Charlottesville so 70ish miles from the epicenter) one of my ceiling lights shook loose. Its hanging up by the electrical wires now. I got the globe off and the wires are still intact. I just can't figure out how the dang thing was attached. Theres a bracket that I think I have to remove from the light to get it mounted again. I'm going to let DH do that when he gets home.
The nuclear power plant at Lake Anna immediately shut down the reactors and no damage has been reported. What concerns folks is that this may have been a "foreshock" and a larger one could be coming. I'm more concerned about Irene heading our way in a few days. Louisa County won't be able to recover in time.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Disaster for my DH:  Home Depot closed because they are concerned about possible problems in their parking deck!   He's consoling himself by building a brick wall -- but he really needs some more bricks. . . . .


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Felt it here pretty good in Hampton Roads too, I kept thinking it had to be a shockwave and was waiting for the explosion then realized it was a quake.  Pretty exciting, the first one I've felt.  Now we get to get ready for the hurricane... and I guess locusts are next.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

I'm at home now. No problems in the basement; middle floor, glasses are knocked over, not broken; top floor, tv and dvd player fell from stand onto carpeted floor, books shifted on bookcase. I guess it could have been worse.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

Vet said:


> I'm at home now. No problems in the basement; middle floor, glasses are knocked over, not broken; top floor, tv and dvd player fell from stand onto carpeted floor, books shifted on bookcase. I guess it could have been worse.


Glad to hear you didn't encounter any problems.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Heard about it here in Washington state....coming home tomorrow, anxious to see what fell down in our house in Alexandria.....


Betsy


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## gdae23 (Apr 30, 2009)

I was at work on a high floor of a large govt. building in Manhattan. We're in typical cubicles, and everyone's first thought was that the man who comes to clean was using a bit too much force in the next cubicle, causing ours to shake. We soon realized that wasn't it. Since we're near Ground Zero and it's near September 11th, I then had a brief thought that a plane might have hit into the other side of our building. Luckily, someone had a radio and we quickly got the news it was an earthquake. We were told to evacuate the building, and after being outside almost an hour were told we could go back in, which we did.  Then, about 20 minutes later, it was announced the whole building was being closed and we had to leave immediately.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

I was half asleep when I felt it, although DH swears I didn't b/c we live in WV and are "too far away".  I thought it was just shaking from the trains (we live really close to a train track, so it's not unusual for us to feel some shaking from that).  I, in my sleepy brain, thought it was just the trains, so I went back to sleeping.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Alle, you could easily have felt it. . . .they've had it all over the news that the thing with east coast quakes is that because of the geology they're felt over much wider distances.  I posted on FB that I'd felt it and a friend of mine in Northern Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati, said he'd felt it.  And there was video on the news of the Cleveland baseball game where it was felt. . . . .


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

The NBC Nightly News said it was felt in 22 states.


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## Casper Parks (May 1, 2011)

Two quakes, Colorado had one as well.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

I missed all the excitement...    

At the time we were driving through southern Georgia...  currently we're in Orlando, where the big local concern is over the possible hurricane path instead.

Reports from home in Northern Virginia (all of them between 10 and 20 miles from DC) have chandeliers swaying, people being evacuated from office buildings, things falling off store shelves, some people feeling their house shaking and others only a mile or two away not feeling a thing, and some bits falling off roofs.  And cats hiding for hours afterward!


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I hope everyone's okay out there. 

My brother lives in Virginia and works at a government office in DC. He said he crawled under his desk when he figured out it was an earthquake. He and his family are all safe.

Vicki


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

My family and friends are all in Virginia, and close friends have a house on Lake Anna. My mom in Chesapeake reported swaying lights and cabinet doors opening in the kitchen, and said it lasted over 30 seconds. Wow!


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

I had finished my writing for the day around 1:15ish... I went to the bank, then went around to my breakfast/lunch place and got a bite to eat. I came home and sat down, and my desktop monitor started shaking. I said, "What the h*ll?"


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## Tam (Jan 7, 2010)

Here in Central PA a lot of people felt it. We were just at the end of lunch hour at DH's dental office (about 1:54pm), sitting in the 2nd floor lunchroom. At first we thought it was a big truck because sometimes they vibrate the building a little, then I said "Earthquake!" A couple people said No Way, not in Pennsylvania! Downstairs, our receptionist sitting on a wheeled desk chair didn't feel a thing, but 2 of the 3 people in the waiting room noticed it. In my case, the first noticeable feeling was the seat of my chair moving up and down, then the table, then the windows rattling. It lasted about 20 seconds. Funny - the young woman right beside me swore later it lasted at least 5 minutes!   It seems like anyone moving -in a vehicle, on a treadmill, jogging, etc., didn't notice it. One acquaintance said on Facebook that she had 8 kids running around in her house, and when it happened she thought the swaying was the start of a migraine so she took her Excedrine Migraine and laid down to rest!

My mother-in-law south of Pittsburgh felt it and thought her dryer in the basement had exploded. My sister works in Richmond but lives about 10 miles from the epicenter. It took her till evening to get home through terrible traffic, helicopters circling overhead, passing homes with chimneys knoecked askew and a few outbuildings that had been knocked crooked. At home, lots of stuff had fallen off shelves and her cats were freaked out but OK.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It would have felt more or less strong depending on how far you were from the epicenter -- as well as what direction.

There were no serious injuries, even right at the center because it basically is farm land. But in nearby towns were lots of toppled store store shelves and the brick facades of some older buildings fell. (And at least one newer one that probably shouldn't have up in this area, 85 miles away!) But generally the ground isn't conducive to causing too much of that trouble -- more bedrock and less sandy soil which can become almost liquid when vibrated. And, as I said, the area of the center is pretty rural. Largest town of any size at least 30-40 miles away east and west -- which are the directions the vibrations travel less efficiently because of the orientation of the rock.

Here's an interesting page -- based on folks who reported feeling it: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/se/082311a/us/index.html

And apparently there have been several aftershocks in the 2 - 4 range. I didn't feel any of those, though the largest was at 8 in the evening when DH was making noise and bumping things outside in his building project so. . . . . .


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## Colin Taber (Apr 4, 2011)

A bit of a surprise to hear about, but at least everyone seems to be safe!


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

Alle Meine Entchen said:


> I was half asleep when I felt it, although DH swears I didn't b/c we live in WV and are "too far away". I thought it was just shaking from the trains (we live really close to a train track, so it's not unusual for us to feel some shaking from that). I, in my sleepy brain, thought it was just the trains, so I went back to sleeping.





Ann in Arlington said:


> Alle, you could easily have felt it. . . .they've had it all over the news that the thing with east coast quakes is that because of the geology they're felt over much wider distances. I posted on FB that I'd felt it and a friend of mine in Northern Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati, said he'd felt it. And there was video on the news of the Cleveland baseball game where it was felt. . . . .


I think DH is wrong, that I did feel it and he later agreed that I could have. It was just a little shaking and if I had been up and about instead of taking a nap on the couch, I probably wouldn't have felt it.


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## Tip10 (Apr 16, 2009)

Sorry folks, here in St Louis: 
I didn't feel the quake you all had in the mid-Atlantic region 
nor the one in Colorado about 12 hours earlier
nor the one in California about 12 hours after yours
hmmmm, wonder where is next?
Hopefully not here (we are on on of the nation's largest fault lines).


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Alle Meine Entchen said:


> I was half asleep when I felt it, although DH swears I didn't b/c we live in WV and are "too far away". I thought it was just shaking from the trains (we live really close to a train track, so it's not unusual for us to feel some shaking from that). I, in my sleepy brain, thought it was just the trains, so I went back to sleeping.


You could have felt it. My husband came home from work, he's a Cabel Huntington Hospital, and said they had actually evacuated an area of St. Mary's. We both thought that was a bit extreme but then again neither of us felt it. It takes quite a bit for us to even notice, we did the 6.5 in Hawaii back in '06 and lived in San Francisco for awhile.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

sebat said:


> You could have felt it. My husband came home from work, he's a Cabel Huntington Hospital, and said they had actually evacuated an area of St. Mary's. We both thought that was a bit extreme but then again neither of us felt it.


Oddly enough, I live a 5 min drive from Cabel (that's where my OB/GYN's office is).


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Alle Meine Entchen said:


> Oddly enough, I live a 5 min drive from Cabel (that's where my OB/GYN's office is).


I knew you were probably close, you have Huntington listed above your picture. We're over by Barboursville until the end of September and then we'll be moving again.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> And apparently there have been several aftershocks in the 2 - 4 range. I didn't feel any of those, though the largest was at 8 in the evening when DH was making noise and bumping things outside in his building project so. . . . . .


Most recent aftershock I've heard of was around 12:45 this morning. I had several friends on the east side of the Blue Ridge saying throughout the evening they felt aftershocks, especially that one around 8 you mention Ann. Over on the west side of the mountain range, where I live, we didn't feel any aftershocks.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

Here's some fun for those of us who have felt the earthquake: http://cakewrecks.squarespace.com/home/2011/8/24/the-day-the-earth-wouldnt-stand-still.html


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## Tam (Jan 7, 2010)

Well, I read in the local paper this morning that there was damage to some buildings in our county seat, Sunbury PA, and that ceiling tiles fell in the courtroom and a wall cracked in a county office building. 

My sister near the epicenter said they felt the aftershock at 8pm. Their 2 cats were outside (they liveWAY out in the sticks) and a couple of weconds before they felt it the cats yowled and took off for the woods! Apparently they came home a little later and meowed to get back in the house. She also said the one close to 1am woke them up from sleeping.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Some people say they felt it here in Chicago.  I did not, however.  Those inland quakes tend to be much more powerful than those in the ocean (or so I was once told).  There is a huge inland fault near New Madrid Missouri and when they had a major quake there in the 1800s it rang church bells in Boston and caused the Mississippi to run backwards.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Tam said:


> Their 2 cats were outside (they liveWAY out in the sticks) and a couple of weconds before they felt it the cats yowled and took off for the woods!


That's what I remember the most about the big one I went through in HI. The neighbors dog was going crazy! It hit before 8am on a Sunday, DH and I were still in bed but weren't really asleep because the dog had been running up and down the fence behind the house and barking continuously since about 7. That was something he normally didn't do unless the neighbor kids were playing with him. I've always heard that animals can predict earthquakes. It made a believer out of me!


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Our law clerk emailed me about an hour and a half after the quake and said the courthouse lost a few stones off the top.  He was in the eastern part of WV across the mountain from VA.  I had left the courthouse earlier and was driving and felt nothing.  
When I got home some of the boxes we had stacked in the garage were toppled over.  I fussed at my better half, but he said he hadn't been near them yesterday.  We're west of Pittsburgh.
deb


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

Did you know the USGS likes for people to report when they feel an earthquake?  It helps them more accurately determine the magnitude & impact.  Go to "Did You Feel It?"  at earthquake.usgs.gov.  The questions only take a few seconds to complete (we do this all the time in California).


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## tecwritr (Oct 28, 2008)

We moved to California in 1986.  I was on the first fairway of a golf course when I felt my first earthquake.  I was standing in the middle, getting ready for my second shot, when I heard some clanging.  Running along side the fairway was a bunch of tall, metal electrical towers and they were wobbling back and forth.  Then I felt the ground shaking.  For about 30 seconds i thought these towers were going to come down on me.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

This is kind of interesting . . . .what the animals at the zoo did before and during the quake.

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/AnimalCare/News/earthquake.cfm


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

My brother sent this to me. I thought it was kind of funny.










At least no one was seriously hurt or anything.

Vicki


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Yeah. . . mostly people are feeling a bit sheepish for freaking out.

But let's not forget that there are areas of central Virginia where the damage was much more severe. . . . .


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## Erick Flaig (Oct 25, 2010)

Victorine said:


> My brother sent this to me. I thought it was kind of funny.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The Ubiquitous Plastic Chair! Watch news from anywhere in the world and you see these. There must be millions of them!


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> This is kind of interesting . . . .what the animals at the zoo did before and during the quake.
> 
> http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/AnimalCare/News/earthquake.cfm


Neat article. Thanks for posting.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

From the Depatment of Irony, Earthquake Division: in an article in the Washington Post, "Late Wednesday, D.C. officials said School Without Walls would remain closed Thursday."


Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

LOL!  You know. . . . I saw that on the news this morning. . . and thought EXACTLY the same thing!


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## Buttercup (Oct 28, 2008)

Stole this from a friends facebook status and thought it was too funny not to share.  Pretty true too, LOL

"Only news coverage is the earthquake in the east. Alright the earth wiggled, enough. Loved one tweet...."5.9? That's what we Californians stir our coffee with". Very funny!"


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, it IS true that for folks in CA this is _nothing_. 

But many otherwise sensible and intelligent people were quite freaked -- remember, most folks who live here have never been in an earthquake before and as it is not something expected around here, people didn't (1) know what it was at first and (2) know what to do. A LOT of people thought at first it had been some sort of explosion -- possibly of the terrorist variety -- especially those who work in the Pentagon. They said when it started it was EXACTLY like what they experienced 10 years ago.

There was actually an air of giddiness in the city when everyone realized it was _only_ an earthquake and it was over.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Also note that a 5.9 in California only has a notable impact over much smaller area, while my house was noticeably shaking about 160 miles from the epicenter. Sure, it didn't really do any drastic damage anywhere, but it was felt by tens of millions of people, which is pretty unusual compared to most CA earthquakes.

Yes, thankfully it was only a 5.9 and did not do much damage, but it was still a once-in-a-lifetime event for me.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

My dad said the same thing!  He's 82 and it's the first earthquake he's experienced.

And there actually was some fairly significant damage closer to the epicenter.  The little town nearest has a lot of buildings damaged enough that they are condemned.


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## Buttercup (Oct 28, 2008)

No offense meant, we're just so used to them here so I thought it was a funny comment.  I wouldn't have posted it had the lawnchair furniture pic not already been posted (which was hilarious BTW)

It would be quite terrifying and shocking to me as well if it were my first shaker.  Plus, our buildings, bridges, overpasses are designed with earthquakes in mind and are sometimes retrofitted to make them more secure in quakes.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Buttercup *member #83* said:


> No offense meant, we're just so used to them here so I thought it was a funny comment. I wouldn't have posted it had the lawnchair furniture pic not already been posted (which was hilarious BTW)
> 
> It would be quite terrifying and shocking to me as well if it were my first shaker. Plus, our buildings, bridges, overpasses are designed with earthquakes in mind and are sometimes retrofitted to make them more secure in quakes.


And now we may get to find out how many houses here would not pass Florida's building codes in terms of hurricane resistance.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I can handle a hurricane. . . I just hope it doesn't mean that we're moving on to locusts.  I HATE bugs.


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## Buttercup (Oct 28, 2008)

And see, I'd take an earthquake over a hurricane or tornado any day of the week!  YIKES


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Isabelle hit us pretty hard here, so we're getting all the reverse 911 calls and everything.  No mandatory evacuation yet (except in more remote coastal spit type areas), but plenty of people seeking higher ground.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

We should also point out that a good majority of the damaged buildings were brick and made in the 1800s. They didn't really think about earthquakes back then. And we love our historical buildings, ie anything old.  
I don't know about some of the other older universities but UVa reported minor damage to some buildings on "Central Grounds" - the original University area when Mr. Jefferson built UVa. They have had some structural updates, especially after a balcony fell at a graduation ceremony.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I would expect anything built to Mr. Jefferson's design specs to have weathered it well for the most part.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

I think there are a few things west coast folks need to realize.  Like Nogdog said, our structures just are not built for earthquakes.  I'm pretty sure if I was 100-200 miles closer I would have lost at least the back of my house, and my grandfather would have probably lost hid garage, living room and kitchen.  So all the people running around in the street was probably called for.  When buildings are hundreds of years old, I suspect they would be more liable to fall over if the earth moved from under them.

And like Ann said... A bigger thing, and more true in New York and DC really, is that we never get earthquakes so when that starts happening, the first thing we think of is a bomb going off.  I can guarantee people were panicked, a lot of them said it felt like it did when the towers went down.  I'm all the way down in Virginia and the first thought I had was "What just exploded?" because we just don't get earthquakes.  I guess that also comes from living in an area which would definitely be top priority on the wipe them off the face of the earth list behind New York and DC.

Apparently East Coast earthquakes are also bigger in scope than those on the West Coast.  That's why it was felt all up and down the coast.  At any rate, it is kinda a big deal over here.

I think Ted Raimi said it best... "Funny to watch New Yorkers run to the street when "the quake" hit.  Funnier to watch driving Angelenos avoid rain like it was live ammo."


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## Tam (Jan 7, 2010)

My sister lives 10 miles from Mineral, VA and she posted pictures of many homes and public buildings that were significantly damaged. Anything brick suffered - whether a whole brick facade coming down or a brick chimney crumbking and taking a big chunk of roof with it. It really is amazing no one was injured by falling debris. Even our county office buildings here in Central PA had damage. Nothing like a CA quake, of course, but still... 

Hoping the coming hurricane veers off the coast. Flooding and damaging winds predicted over a LOT of area...


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

> Only news coverage is the earthquake in the east. Alright the earth wiggled, enough.


THAT'S the problem - it's the entire planet! It's not supposed to move like that!

I'm planning to visit Monticello in a few weeks - I hope it held up okay. Putting my trust in TJ.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

4Katie said:


> THAT'S the problem - it's the entire planet! It's not supposed to move like that!
> 
> I'm planning to visit Monticello in a few weeks - I hope it held up okay. Putting my trust in TJ.


I'd heard a blurb on the news thought they said no damage.

Monticello's website: http://www.monticello.org/site/blog-and-community/posts/monticello-remains-open-following-louisa-co-va-earthquake

Weekend visit? Or longer stay?


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

I live just two hours from Charlottesville. My sister will be visiting from Oregon, and we both want to see Monticello. I'm very anxious to go, as I have a huge admiration for Thomas Jefferson. I fell in love with the area when DS went to UVA, and I'm looking forward to going back.


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## jsmclean (Mar 6, 2011)

Monticello is so beautiful in the summer.../nerd    I love Charlottesville, too.

I was up in Springfield, Mass and could feel the earthquake all the way up here...Definitely the longest one I've ever experienced!  So far it doesn't seem like any permanent damage has been done?


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