# So, Did The Earth Move for YOU? N/T



## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

I know it's a non-event for those of you on the left coast, but we were almost in disbelief when our building started shaking this afternoon in Roanoke, VA. I have not read about any severe damage locally, although the roof of the town hall at the epicenter in Mineral, VA was said to have collapsed. The last time I got shaken that much was when I split a switch with the Dry Gulch Railroad train at Hershey Park in the summer of 1967.

So, what did some of you other right-coasters think? Thought I'd start a thread for you to share your own experiences.

Best,
David Meashey


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

What was the magnitude?


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg; 

The latest news statement from the USGS has it at 5.9. 

Yours, 
David Meashey


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Guess as the new said a few min ago, it was 5 .9 .. " small shaker I guess? "


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

We got a good shake here in northern Virginia (near Dulles Airport). This is the first time that I remember hearing a rumbling sound before the shake. We had enough time to have a short conversation about the noise before the actual shaking arrived. I experienced a few when I lived in Menlo Park, CA, but those were all less than 5. I think that this was the biggest shake that I have experienced.

I was just in a Virginia State Liquor store and they said that they have one bottle fall of the shelf. Fortunately, it was a plastic one. 

It's kind of fun to see mother nature in action, especially when no one is badly hurt or killed.

Chuck


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

So have I lived San Diego, Long Beach and Japan and had become almost used to the frequent movements of the earth. So the thought is usually: was this a big one far away or a small one nearby? I said out loud "Wow, I feel like I'm back in California again". It is odd that this small quake was felt so far from it's center.


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

We felt it here in Pittsburgh, but it was just a LITTLE shake in my ground floor office at work.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave:

A 5.9 isn't a small earthquake. There are parts of the world where there would have been significant damage. We are fortunate to have reasonably well made structures, not mud and sticks.

Shallow quakes are felt over larger areas than deep ones are. 

Chuck


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

ALL 

Our MLS member Bryant [Heavy Freight] with the 1:29 NS "live diesel" lives very close [within 10 miles] of the epicenter of the quake. Hope he is ok and reports in. Apparently more excitement in downtown DC than out here 50 miles away. Our house began "buzzing" followed by some shaking that included rattling of glassware on the shelves. It was over in 30 or 40 seconds. No damage.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Chuck; 

You aren't getting any argument from me. I just wrote that it would be a non-event for our left coast friends. Didn't call it small (perhaps you are referring to what Noel wrote?). 

David Meashey


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

They also had a 4.5 in Colorado according to one of my facebook friends. She didn't say where but maybe she eventually will or I can find out. Regal


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

You woke me for a mere 5.9? Pagh!


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Bout the same as this dump shakes when the washer goes on spin cycle. The dogs didn't start whining until after.... so much for their highly tuned senses.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I was in Down Town Phoenix AZ driving driving through the Deck Park Tunnel. Felt Nothing. Some times we get pool sloshings when L A has a shaker. 

JJ


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Ah, no earth shaking in Florida unless it was over at one of the parks. 

But we got us a hurricane comin.


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## GN_Rocky (Jan 6, 2008)

I concour with Randy, nothin' shakin' down here, but I talked with Mrs. Rocky up in GA and she said her mom felt it a little 15 miles from our house at her house which is 40 miles West of Atlanta. Like Randy said, we got other things to worry about here with Irene on her way up, But I think she will near miss and head up the coast, maybe hitting DC. Ya thinks God is tryin' to get the government's attention ??? Someone needs to









Rocky


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave:

My apology, I had read several responses prior to my post and I confused them.

Chuck


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By vsmith on 23 Aug 2011 02:56 PM 
You woke me for a mere 5.9? Pagh! 



The main difference is stuff out here wasn't, and isn't built "quake proof" The spires of the National Cathedral are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. 75-80 year old gas lines, earthen dams, bridges, older houses, etc. will all need to be inspected (but many won't be until they fail)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/virginia-earthquake-washi_n_934307.html


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

The main difference is stuff out here wasn't, and isn't built "quake proof" The spires of the National Cathedral are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. 75-80 year old gas lines, earthen dams, bridges, older houses, etc. will all need to be inspected 

Mic's next job opportunity? "No, No, No - see those humongous cracks? You cannot drive that truck across that bridge!"


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Well, I was out on the boat, and didn't feel a thing. No tsunami either. 

But when I got home (Annapolis, MD) there was all kinds of issues. Half the vases tried to walk off the cabinets - one fell off and smashed (fortunately the expensive one didn't quite make the edge before it all stopped.) Plant pots turned over, bits of plaster flaked off the stairway ceilig (which suggests it flexed a bit.) 

The funny bit was this evening, when we were looking high and low for the small glasses that usually hang upside down under the kitchen cabinet. No sign of them, no broken glass, not behind the toaster underneath, not in the dishwasher, not still on the coasters in the living room. Where the heck? Then wife remembered that daughter said all the drawers in the cabinets below were out - and there were the glasses - unharmed - but they had bounced onto some pyrex glass cookware. 
My new EBT #12 hadn't moved off the bookshelf, nor had coach 20 tipped over and dropped - it's on the edge of the top shelf so I can admire it!


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

We had a 5.3 down in Trinidad (near the CO/NM border) today, not that we felt it this far north. A few crumbled buildings, but no injuries. Pete, glad to hear #12 survived unscathed. 

Later, 

K


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

Glad to hear that everyone came through this one with no problems. I used to love it when I lived in Nashville and some would look at me and ask how I could live with the Quakes in California and I would tel them that "I would rather live with earth quakes and not have to deal with the tornadoes, lightning and hurricanes and beside they can have the earth quakes just like California, " Nah they would say "earthquakes only happen in California!" And then I would remind them that the largest recorded earthquake in the lower 48 states was the New Madrid quake of the early 1800's and that epicenter is only about 200 miles away. Have fun because as one of the above posters said nothing was built for it, none of the emergency services had even thought about it and the people were not ready for it "Because that was a California Problem"


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Damn....Congress was out of session....


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Not so, Mike. Congress is indeed in session over their "vacation," a procedural move to keep any recess appointments from taking place. But for the first time since 9/11, Congress held session outside of the US capitol. 

But when my mom called me to tell me they had an earthquake (she was shopping in Annapolis at the time), my first thought was--"Hmm, did Congress actually _agree_ on something???" 

Later, 

K


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## Therios (Sep 28, 2008)

I guess we all forgot about the "out of the capitol" meeting in Bermuda...


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

I heard where someone's lawn chair actually fell over!


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## todd55whit (Jan 2, 2008)

No movement for me. Didn't even find out till after work. Come Sunday it's going to blow/ rain / hurricane? Stay tuned?


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By chuck n on 23 Aug 2011 02:24 PM 
Dave:

A 5.9 isn't a small earthquake. There are parts of the world where there would have been significant damage. We are fortunate to have reasonably well made structures, not mud and sticks.

Shallow quakes are felt over larger areas than deep ones are. 

Chuck 

It was us that said 5.9 is a small shaker around here. We are setting on a bowl of jelly so it has to be in the mid 6. or better to feel anything around here or unless it a roller. But, Calif. is always shaking. Probably... West coast will be Nev. beach front property some day the way Calif and Org. shakes... laf.


Hope no one was hurt and our Earth is not sounding good with these hicc ups.


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## astrayelmgod (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's a bit of fun. Real time earthquake data. world wide. 

http://www.iris.edu/servlet/eventserver/map.do


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

glad to hear #12 survived unscathed 
Wife figured out the house shook in a northerly direction. The two small locos she has on her shelf upstairs (LGB 'cow' porter and Bachmann 'Lyn' - she thinks they are cute,) both moved back towards the rear. Stuff on the other side of the room moved towards the middle - her plant fell over and made a mess. #12 was the same side as her locos!


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

Sitting at work making a quick drawing for a lady from HR. I thought she was bumping my chair at first until the cabinets next to me started creaking. She did not feel it at all when I askedher . I looked at my coffee cup sloshing and told her to sit down. Then she felt it. It ramped up here and then tapered off. Even though it was imperceptible minutes later, the coffee cup told a different story. Tremors lasted at least 15 minutes here in South Western NY. Third one that I remmber hearing about in my whole life in WNY. Only the first time to actually feel it though. No percieved damage to work or home or friends. 

Chas


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Ah...the answer is in....the earthquakes origin was determined to be from a cemetery just outside of Washington D.C........you know, the one that the Founding Fathers are in. 
Seems they all turned over in their graves at the same time.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike; 

It's off the topic, I know, BUT when I see all the stuff that's been committed against Hershey, PA by the very corporations he founded - I figure Milton Snavley Hershey must be spinning in his grave like a gyroscope! 

Okay, I'm over it now, 
David Meashey


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

Since the epicenter of yesterdays earthquake was on land and a significant distance from the easter shoreline, there would not be a tsunami generated. A tsunami is generated when a portion of the sea floor is uplifted causing a bulge or ripple in the overlying water column. This is what happened in Japan in their recent devastating earthquake.


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## stanman (Jan 4, 2008)

As another left-coaster has said, "A 5.9 is good for stirring my coffee".

The epicenter was somewhere on Bush's Fault.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Did I read somewhere that the Washington Monument developed a crack as a result?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep 

"Cracking was found in the stones at the top of the Washington Monument Tuesday evening, the National Park Service reported. 

The crack was located in one of the triangular faces at the top of the monument. It runs at an angle, and measures approximately 4-feet long and an inch wide, NPS spokesperson Bill Line said. " 

Greg


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Mike Reilley on 24 Aug 2011 11:12 AM 
Ah...the answer is in....the earthquakes origin was determined to be from a cemetery just outside of Washington D.C........you know, the one that the Founding Fathers are in. 


Seems they all turned over in their graves at the same time. 

That there is funny, Mikey!









Seriously though, a seismologist out of Menlo Park, CA commented yesterday that you guys back there probably felt it worse than we would here because the rock is actually colder and the seismic waves are felt a little stronger. This quake was pretty shallow also.


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

Actually, the first comments flying about work were that the folks doing the hydro-fracking of gas and oil wells caused it... 

Lot of controversy about that lately....sigh...that and the windmill farm...sheesh. 

Yeah that is it ....! Blame it on the windmills!


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## cmjdisanto (Jan 6, 2008)

I was outside adding ballast to the layout. It swear it sounded like a helicopter was flying over head at the tree tops, but when the ground started to shake I had 2 guesses. Either it was an earthquake or the Nuke plant in Surry was gone.We shook pretty good. You could see the trees and structures vibrating and swaying. 

Since moving here we've noticed we sit on a ridge in the area plus there's not a great deal of hard-pan soil, mostly hard pack sand below 12"-16" and then some hard strata at 23ft. Learned that when we had the foundation work done. I guess some of the Engineers in the area call it shrink/swell soil. Anyhow...... it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Then again if the epicenter was closer........ we could have had the soil liquefy like it did in the Bay quake in 1989 and the house could have sunk. None the less.......the house did move and we buckled some sheet-rock at the seams, cracked some door jambs and knocked a couple windows and doors out of alignment. Oddly, we didn't break any glass. Some things knocked over but nothing broke!








And everyone laughed at me for buying an earthquake rider for the HO policy.







I swear an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! 

Not to change the subject but along the line of natural disasters......... Now all we have to do is see what Irene is going to do. It may be a direct hit for the area so.....we go from having our teeth rattled to maybe floating them. Actually, the last storm to the area that did anything significant was Isabel and the area caught lots of wind. Close to 20% of the trees in the area were wiped out. Good thing we have been removing some. Just have to wonder of the earthquake could have affected the stability of some of the bigger ones?

I honestly believe we're not done yet with the shakes.Something is telling me there's more on the way.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

This is the first time I actually felt an earthquake shaking. Chair and desk were wiggling. Somebody said, "Does anybody else feel that?" I said, "I think we're having an earthquake." Then it settled down. Then started up again harder, but not as long. Never got to the point of moving my desk chair.

Felt one once as I was walking down a sidewalk, barefoot of course. Felt like I stepped on a pebble I hadn't noticed. When I looked around, the sidewalk was clear. Didn't think much about it till I got where I was going and people said, "We just had an earthquake!" I woke up during the one a couple years ago and thought there was a big wind blowing. I looked out my window and all was calm. Didn't know till later what was going on.


They're rather rare in Illinois, but not unheard of.


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## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

5.9 and shallow is a good 'un - thats for sure, I might even sit up in bed for that size.. Glad no one got hurt. 

Cheers 
Neil


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## rmcintir (Apr 24, 2009)

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/wp-co.../virginia-earthquake-damage-washington-dc.jpg










I figured out the [imgx] stuff, the forum puts in the wrong url into the img src= line!


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