Earthquake hits Washington DC 8/23/11!

[Mben]

5.8 earthquake felt in Washington, D.C. area today. The White House, the State Dept. and the Pentagon are being evacuated. Tremors have been felt up and down the east coast. Check out the news channels for the latest details folks! 

 

[Mben]

Add this earthquake and possible aftershocks to the hurricane that is about to disrupt the east coast also.<a href="../../t44581970/2011-hurricane-season-in-the-us/" >https://www.nodepositforum.com/t44581970/2011-hurricane-season-in-the-us/</a>What a mess! For those of you who live anywhere near these 2 natural disasters, stay safe!

 

[SPADEAHOLIC]

naaaaaa be 120 miles off shore for me anyways now the Carolina's is a different story watch out Myrtle Beach think your in its cross hairs

 

[PSP]

East Coast wimps! Californians don't even get out of bed for that wimpy quake... 

 

[Mben]

PSP wrote: East Coast wimps! Californians don't even get out of bed for that wimpy quake... 

I was catching bits and pieces of news reporters saying well in California, this ... and in California, that ... Meaning Californians know how to handle earthquakes. Just a day at the beach for them. lol

 

[Mben]

  * I had not thought about what people thought was happening when the earthquake struck yesterday. What a horrible memory that must have gone through a lot of people's minds yesterday.  **  PSP, there are a couple comments from your fellow Califonians.   MINERAL, Va. (AP) - Office buildings, schools and towering landmarks were being inspected Wednesday for hidden structural flaws a day after initial checks turned up sparse damage from a rare East Coast earthquake.Public schools and a handful of federal government buildings in Washington remained closed for further assessment, and engineers were taking a closer look at cracks in the Washington Monument and broken capstones at the National Cathedral. Some residents of D.C. suburbs were staying in shelters because of structural concerns at their apartment buildings.Further south, Tuesday's 5.8-magnitude quake also shattered windows and wrecked buildings near its Virginia epicenter. There were no known deaths or serious injuries.The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the quake serves as a reminder for residents to be prepared. We talk about hurricanes this time of year, but we forget that A: earthquakes don't have a season and B: they are not just a western hazard , FEMA administrator Craig Fugate said in an interview Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America.  * When the quake struck, many feared terrorism in New York and Washington - places where nerves are raw as the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks approaches. The tremblor sent many pouring from high-rises like the Empire State Building. I ran down all 60 flights, accounting office worker Caitlin Trupiano said. I wasn't waiting for the elevator. ____________________________________________________ ** Really all this excitement over a 5.8 quake??? Come on East Coast, we have those for breakfast out here!!!! wrote Dennis Miller, a lifelong California resident whose Pleasanton home sits on a fault line. A 5.8, he said, wouldn't even wake him from his sleep. We were laughing, said 26-year-old San Francisco resident Stellamarie Hall, but we definitely understand that New York and certain metropolitan areas are not designed around earthquakes.   

 

[omeg]

I have a Sister who lives in San Jose California, and we chuckled a little on Messenger yesterday that it was considered small to residents out there.There is nothing funny about the East Coast having a earthquake of course, but for veterans in Cali, when they experience this sort of thing, they go on, business as usual.It is simply amazing to me that one could EVER get used to such a thing. WOW.                                                                                              Pam

 

[PSP]

PMM2008 wrote: There is nothing funny about the East Coast having a earthquake of course, but for veterans in Cali, when they experience this sort of thing, they go on, business as usual.It is simply amazing to me that one could EVER get used to such a thing. WOW.                                                                                              Pam

 To give you a little perspective, at the time, we lived within 7 miles of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. That was a 6.7 or 6.8 (still some debate over the intensity), but it was a shallow quake so the shaking was more intense. The Richter Scale is logarithmic, so a 6.0 is 10X the energy (more intense) than a 5.0 - that means that the Virginia quake was 1/10 of the Northridge energy.We lived in a 3 story house in Woodland Hills at the time where the master suite was at ground level. We had french doors that opened to the pool , which was about 25' from the house. The way that I could tell that the Northridge earthquake was a big deal at the time (4:30AM) was that I was awakened by the water from the pool hitting the french doors We ended up with about $150K worth of damage to the house. EVERY dish, glass, etc in the kitchen that we owned was thrown on the kitchen floor along with all of the TVs, computers, etc. We had stronger aftershocks than the Virginia quake for weeks afterward - almost everyone slept outside for at least a week. We didn't have water or power for over a week - that means no showers, no toilets, no cooking, no TV, etc for almost 10 days.Suddenly standing outside crying because the ground was shaking, but there was almost no damage or injuries seems pretty wimpy, doesn't it?

 

[PSP]

... of course, if we got 3 of snow, life as we know it would stop for DAYS!  

 

[omeg]

PSP wrote: ... of course, if we got 3 of snow, life as we know it would stop for DAYS!