5.9 earthquak in mid atlantic

[gamzdude 57]

There was a nasty and possible damaging 5.9 earthquake in Washington dc you can read about it right hear. http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/quake-midatlantic_2011-08-23 so this is the place to talk about this very rare event i mean did you feel it what was it like scary fun etc and how do hope the people who felt it are okay. stats reports say that this earthquake was felt as far as new york city US :O very wild. have fun posting

[WillR116 60]

I understand Toronto all the way to Alabama actually, but, apart from a new parking garage, all structures seem fine, the Nuke plant's already back running, but the airports down :| Makes me wonder if somethings gonna happen with the New Madrid fault. (Also, i'm fine, one or two things fell off but my neighbors porch windows broke). For the most part we just got all shook up and that was it.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Acemaster55 1]

Felt it in Chambersburg, PA. Rumbled for about ten seconds; freaked my dog out like crazy! We also had one building collapse here; a decrepit warehouse. I hope we aren't due for an earthquake! I don't want one!

BTW first post; hai.

[Meg 368]

I know people in California are used to this kind of thing but, over here on the middle portion of the east coast, we haven't had a quake like this in 100 years.

It was rather freaky. I've been in an earthquake before but that was in Utah. That one sloshed water out of the hotel pool.

This one knocked stuff off the walls and out of cabinets. We don't bolt the bookcases to the walls here.

But it all depends on what you are used to. I've seen Californians freak out at a thunderstorm. That seems a bit odd to me since we have them so frequently it isn't a cause for alarm. Which is how Californians feel about earthquakes.

Edit: my favorite response to an article on a local news website

I had "survive mild earthquake" on my bucket list. SCORE!

[DCMetro34 576]

Didn't feel much here in the western part of North Carolina, or at least nothing that was strong enough to noticeably shake a 3 story sturdy school building for a considerable amount of time. I did feel a little shake, but other people in my family say they felt more of a shake.

I think what Barbarossa said about the foreshocks is interesting. Personally, that thought crossed my mind, also. The last one of a close magnitude was 1897. This one was .1 less, so ten times less powerful.

It's interesting to entertain the idea of a foreshock.... the weather has been "wacky" around the world the past few years.

  Edited August 23, 2011 by DCMetro34  

[nathanthemayor 1,261]

Whoa!An earthquake in the east?That's unusual.....

[PontiacFiero84 109]

Just got back , from NYC with a friend. I was in the Subway to Brooklyn and I did not feel anything , my mother was freaking out and couldn't contact me when I was underground. It's pretty crazy that the quake happened though!

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

I live in central North Carolina and didn't feel a thing. I think the shock waves went more to the north than to the south.

[Duke87 1,070]

I was in the vicinity of Columbus Circle in New York when the quake struck... but I know this only because I know it hit just before 2 PM. I felt nothing and saw nothing. Same goes for most people I talked to, although someone did claim she saw the building across the street from her office shake.

...which seems a little odd to me. Should a 5.8 really be detectable by humans 300 miles away from the epicenter?

[Meg 368]

I was in the vicinity of Columbus Circle in New York when the quake struck... but I know this only because I know it hit just before 2 PM. I felt nothing and saw nothing. Same goes for most people I talked to, although someone did claim she saw the building across the street from her office shake.

...which seems a little odd to me. Should a 5.8 really be detectable by humans 300 miles away from the epicenter?

Not usually.

I'm about 120 miles away and I sure felt it. A friend in Cleveland texted me; she felt it and she is over 400 miles away. I think that has something to do with the mountains.

The National Cathedral was damaged. (For those not familiar with it, it is big enough for the Washington Monument to lay down inside of it.)

The nuclear power plant close to the epicenter seems to be doing okay.

The local news was full of dazed people going "Huh? What was that?" I experienced it myself: a certain level of denial that this could not possibly be an earthquake. As one of my neighbors said "I've been here 81 years and I've never felt anything like that".

With everyone I've talked to "earthquake" was at least third on the list of possibilities that occurred to them. Most people's minds went to "a plane hitting the building" before it got to "earthquake". Such is life in the DC area.

[Codythemonkey 0]

We certainly felt it in New Jersey. My father about 3 miles north of me didn't feel it but our house shook pretty good four about 20-25 seconds. My mother said her office was shaking a lot as well.

[Easy Bakes 253]

No tidal bores or big waves?

[Meg 368]

No tidal bores or big waves?

In the Appalachian mountains? not so much.

I think one of the reasons this quake was felt so widely is that it rattled the mountain chain. or something like that.

[Easy Bakes 253]

No tidal bores or big waves?

In the Appalachian mountains? not so much.

I think one of the reasons this quake was felt so widely is that it rattled the mountain chain. or something like that.

my mistake someone had told me the epicenter was in the ocean off the coast of Virginia.

[RipRap 4,400]

:| One of the Moderators Codythemonkey, was at ST Chat when the quake happened... I was watching CNN at the same time when the quake happened...

[Meg 368]

my mistake someone had told me the epicenter was in the ocean off the coast of Virginia.

yeah, that would be a different story.

The epicenter is roughly 100 miles west from the western coast of the Chesapeake bay.

They are now saying it lasted 45 seconds. I guess that's about right but it's difficult to judge.

[Alejandro24 575]

Humm, 5.9 Richter, isn't too hard at all. It could be worse if it is more than 7 richter.

But, people, don't get scarry at all, sooner or later we will feel an earthquake.

[Keder 116]

I wonder is it possible for an earthquake to happen in like the middle of the ocean and cause it to send tidal waves or tsunamis in each direction.

[Meg 368]

I wonder is it possible for an earthquake to happen in like the middle of the ocean and cause it to send tidal waves or tsunamis in each direction.

Remember that quake in Japan that happened not long ago? The tsunami from that killed a guy in California who got a bit too close. [link]

Edit: Pics of the damage to the National Cathedral.

[Easy Bakes 253]

I wonder is it possible for an earthquake to happen in like the middle of the ocean and cause it to send tidal waves or tsunamis in each direction.

Remember that quake in Japan that happened not long ago? The tsunami from that killed a guy in California who got a bit too close. [link]

Edit: Pics of the damage to the National Cathedral.

looks like thay are going to have to repair both spires.

  Edited August 24, 2011 by Easy Bakes  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Where there are mountains, there is a tectonic collision zone and faults. This one was felt in Prince Edward Island, which is at the end of the Appalachian chain. Seems the waves were more north-south.

This could easily have been a fore-shock. If so, NYC is in great danger as much of some of the boroughs are built on sand. I hope the seismic mavens are hard at work on this. It is imipossible to evacuate the east coast cities.

Huronia is on the shore of the ancient Lake Iroquois which has become the Great Lakes. The Bruce Peninsula and the Bruce Trail which includes the Niagara Escarpment are part of the shore line and are all sedimentary rocks. The basement rock around here is the stubbs of the Laurentians, which is a fairly stable area. It is mostly granite and basalt in this area where there are not sedimentary deposits, and this part of the North American plate is stable.

Further west there is the Yellowstone cauldera with a huge magma chamber underlying it. The USGS is watching this one carefully. In the future it could be a super volcano, in which case most of central and western North Americal will be subjected to serious destruction.

As for the question of earthquakes originating in the Atlantic, it is unlikely that anything major will happen there. The Atlantic is becoming wider due to the Atlantic Rift, where there is considerable vulcanism. Iceland is on the rift, and has volcanic activity, but most of the action is on the ocean floor. If anything, the North American plate is being pushed into the Pacific Plate, and real trouble will be on the west coast. {/geology 101}

[Duke87 1,070]

This could easily have been a fore-shock. If so, NYC is in great danger as much of some of the boroughs are built on sand.

Well, yes, there is that liquefaction issue...

On the other hand, there is not a major fault line on the east coast of the US and so a major quake here is not something worth holding your breath for.

To wit, seismic design charts from ASCE Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures:

[astronelson 339]

A bit of damage to the Washington Monument, too.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-25/east-coast-quake-cracks-washington-monument/2854616

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

A bit of damage to the Washington Monument, too.

http://www.abc.net.a...onument/2854616

"Si monumentum requiris circumspice" epitaph on the tomb of Christopher Wren in St. Paul's Cathedral.

(If you want a monument, look around).

The Americans have created a beautiful city. But the cracks in the government are coming home to roost?

[Msprintz 25]

Where there are mountains, there is a tectonic collision zone and faults. This one was felt in Prince Edward Island, which is at the end of the Appalachian chain. Seems the waves were more north-south.

This could easily have been a fore-shock. If so, NYC is in great danger as much of some of the boroughs are built on sand. I hope the seismic mavens are hard at work on this. It is imipossible to evacuate the east coast cities.

It's doubtful this would be a fore-shock given the nature of the area. There have also been quite a few aftershocks in the hours and days after the quack the largest of those measuring 4.5 at 1:07 am today. The shaking from that was felt over a wide area ( felt some light shaking on Long Island ) but was noticeably lighter than that of the 5.8 event that occurred on Tuesday.

In addition if this were a fore-shock the greatest danger would be to the cities of Richmond, Washington D.C. and Norfolk in the immediate vicinity of where the larger quack would strike. The danger would mostly be from a possible 6.5-7.0 M quake, but again given the region and past activity it's doubtful of a quake that size occurring any time soon. Of course history has shown in the case of a fore-shock that the main quake could be hours, days or even years away in the case of the Indian Ocean quake in 2004 ( Sumatra in 2002 was a fore-shock to that particular quake ).

[Meg 368]

I am certainly not an earthquake expert but it seems to me that this quake was different from the one I experienced in Utah. In Utah, things swayed back and forth. Here, things seemed to be moving up and down. Does that make any sense?

[RipRap 4,400]

I am certainly not an earthquake expert but it seems to me that this quake was different from the one I experienced in Utah. In Utah, things swayed back and forth. Here, things seemed to be moving up and down. Does that make any sense?

It was probably due to the shallowness of the quake and the fault itself. If it moved up or down, it could have been a dip-slip fault.

[Duke87 1,070]

Makes perfect sense. Tremors can occur about any axis.