Just experienced my first earthquake

[sheehs1]

How long before the "It's caused by Global Climate Warming Change" crowd jumps in?

About 6 hours and 2 minutes....

 

[calmloki]

Was just watching HLN, Headline News, as they intoned about the quake. They had a row of 4 talking heads onscreen as the voice-over rattled on about the quake. Fun thing was the row of people were all nodding in agreement but out of synch as the voice-over went on. Made me wonder if they were on site and the quake was still happening.

 

[MasterBlaster]

a 5.8 quake is a moderate quake. You'll definitely feel it if you are close. A uake that size can do a bit of dameage to foundations and such to structures clsoe to the epicenter.

 

[FIREngineer]

When I read the title of the thread, I thought it was about the Colorado earthquake, the largest Colorado quake in 40 years. Can these be related?

According to seismologist Graham Kent, it is very very unlikely that the two quakes were related.

East Coast earthquake: Seismologist discusses - The Washington Post

Here on the outskirts of Baltimore, we felt some shaking along the lines of moderate to semi-severe airplane turbulence. I'm still waiting to go home to see if anything fell from the walls/shelves. At work, only small stuff fell.

 

[glippy]

I felt it up in Massachusetts. I was going down for a nap on the couch and suddenly the flat screen was teetering, the house plants were waving, the chandelier was swaying and it felt like someone was underneath the cushions trying to get out from under me. I ran outside thinking my 100 year old building was going to collapse.

But everyone was outside walking around as if nothing had happened. I asked my neighbor who was sitting on the stoop if he felt anything and he said no. I thought I was crazy for about 10 minutes until I turned on the news.

 

[Nuiloa]

Hmmmm..... The earth seems to be shaking apart. Maybe that December 21, 2012 thing isn't so far off.

May have to re-think the retirement date - get a couple months in anyhow before the big bang

 

[Chuckanut]

5.8?? Not much of a quake at all. Wake me up if a 6.5 or bigger one happens.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hmmmm..... The earth seems to be shaking apart. Maybe that December 21, 2012 thing isn't so far off.

May have to re-think the retirement date - get a couple months in anyhow before the big bang

magnitude 5 to 5.9 earthquakes occur often. Based on USGS surveys these size quakes ocur (worldwide) about 1319 times a year. That averages over 3.5 a day.

Earthquake Facts and Statistics

 

[rescueme]

I blame Lyndsay Lohan.

Here's a few funny one's (regardless of your political bent):

Top politically themed earthquake tweets | Campaign 2012

 

[bbbamI]

Well, there was that foosball table incident when I was 18.......

Now...that's one I've never heard of before....

 

[BigNick]

How long before the "It's caused by Global Climate Warming Change" crowd jumps in?

Er... what? How long before the straw man construction party arrives?

Doesn't it seem like the Earth is in a period of higher seismic activity - Japan, Haiti, Chile earthquakes, Iceland volcano...Makes you wonder where the next shoe will drop!

Some background reading for you.

 

[Purron]

Here's a few funny one's (regardless of your political bent):

Top politically themed earthquake tweets | Campaign 2012

 

[glippy]

That averages over 3.5 a day.

I wonder why I don't feel them more often then. This was my first one. I've always wanted to give it a go so I'm happy I was in a position to notice it. And I was in Mass and this thing was in Virginia. If 3.5 happen a day and you can feel it outwards in a 700 mile radius like I did this one, then it seems that tens of millions of people must experience earthquakes everyday. I wonder why so few can report having felt one then...

 

[Brat]

Maybe voters will stop applauding politicians who want to make fun of the earth sciences and strict building codes. The structure that fails may come down on their heads!

 

[grasshopper]

Almost all my good earthquakes were in 70's in the Bay area, while in school.

But most of the time it was " Hey man I am more stoned than I think I am".

Or "Wooooow far out what was that".

 

[Chuckanut]

Often the real damage done by an earthquake are the fires and floods caused by broken pipes and damaged dams. Any news of that kind of thing is the real reason to worry.

 

[W2R]

I wonder why I don't feel them more often then. This was my first one. I've always wanted to give it a go so I'm happy I was in a position to notice it. And I was in Mass and this thing was in Virginia. If 3.5 happen a day and you can feel it outwards in a 700 mile radius like I did this one, then it seems that tens of millions of people must experience earthquakes everyday. I wonder why so few can report having felt one then...

Some people are more sensitive to earthquakes than others. Perhaps you are one of them. When I lived in California, often during minor earthquakes my ex would feel them, but I was not sure until seeing the water in the fishtanks sloshing about.

 

[GregLee]

If 3.5 happen a day and you can feel it outwards in a 700 mile radius like I did this one, then it seems that tens of millions of people must experience earthquakes everyday.

Over twice the earth's surface is water than land, and the watery surface is sparsely populated. Did you take that into account?

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I live in western PA about 20 miles to the southeast of Pittsburgh. I felt today's quake while sitting at my desk in a third floor office space. My first thought was that the historic building I was in was finally collapsing. It seemed to rumble and sway every so slightly, and I observed a little turbulence in a half-full bottle of water on my desk. A few seconds after the first occurrence, it repeated itself. I grabbed my purse and joined the mass exodus out into the street.
I have experienced mild earthquakes before when I lived in CA and this felt somewhat similar, but I believed it was very unlikely here. I gave more credence at the time to the building caving in due to a structural problem. It seems we always have a contingent of workmen in the place fixing some deterioration or another. We could have built the place ten times over for what it has cost to keep us there.

 

[glippy]

Oh yeah, oceans. I forgot about those...

 

[Nords]

It's kind of a sad commentary on the state of the world that you thought the trembling was the result of a bomb going off.
Sigh.....

Well, it's either that or a helicopter trying to land on the building roof. When the quake hit here we had that noise for a good 10 seconds before the shaking began, which finally clued me in.

... but I believed it was very unlikely here. I gave more credence at the time to the building caving in due to a structural problem.

Sink hole from a coal mine!

After the minor quakes you find out just how well your drywall was taped...

 

[Coolius]

Welcome to the club. Been through more Northern California quakes than I can remember ( how's that for a senior moment! )

The 1989 Loma Prieta quake was the biggest in my memory - some damage in my home, but relatively light compared to others.

Fortunately, it was not that large, as quakes go - if it had been a 6.5 or more, things could have been bad.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Sink hole from a coal mine!

After the minor quakes you find out just how well your drywall was taped...

Ah, yes, the area IS honeycombed with old coal mines. I saw my first sink hole quite spectacularly when cutting through a little hamlet on my way to work about 10 years ago. I flew around a bend and was stopped dead in my tracks by a huge, gaping depression that swallowed up both sides of the road. Really shocking to me... must have happened over night and road was closed for a year.
And then there are all the gas wells in our shared former hometown. Every once in awhile they have an explosion there that creates havoc. The Marcellus Shale drilling and the environmental impact is much debated in the various communities right now.

 

[RunningBum]

Some people are more sensitive to earthquakes than others. Perhaps you are one of them. When I lived in California, often during minor earthquakes my ex would feel them, but I was not sure until seeing the water in the fishtanks sloshing about.

The 3.5 a day are mostly out west. We don't get them on the east coast too often. Like someone else said, the east coast is on a pretty big plate, and when one hits it does tend to carry for a very long ways.

However, I think I'm about 50 miles from the epicenter, and I didn't feel it, probably because I was in my '97 Miata, which shakes enough on it's own. And there was a 4.2 aftershock just 30 minutes ago, which I didn't feel either.

 

[clifp]

Geez 5.9 that isn't even an aftershock in Japan. I guess earthquakes in the East are like snow in LA or San Francisco the surprise isn't the severity it is in the newest.

Well glad everybody is just a bit shook up and not hurt.