Earthquake!

[Synergistic]

To give you an idea of how intensely we felt it in Southwest VA, my girlfriend was taking a nap and was awakened when I went in to tell her how we had an earthquake apparently.

 

[TomCat84]

*YAWN* Wake me when its a 6.5 or above. "5.9 is what we Californians use to stir our coffee"

Funny article: Californians Are Being Insufferable About This Earthquake

5.9 Virginia earthquake gently rocks East Coast: 10 fantastic, Brooklyn hipster-mocking Twitter reactions - Pop2it - Zap2it

 

[TomCat84]

Is that so?

5.4 Afternoon Earthquake Rattles Southern California - TIME NewsFeed

That's TIME magazine. I remember that particular earthquake actually. Was sitting in my cubicle and felt it. But my coworkers and I just looked up and at each other. "Did anybody else feel that?" Then we went about our business. No big deal. No evacuations. In any event, this was one of a string of fairly strong earthquakes dating from a 7.2 in Mexicali (all part of the same basic fault) that Easter. If I remember correctly, there were 4 or 5 pretty good sized quakes from April through July, so SoCal was on edge. The 7.2 one during Easter was pretty gnarly- enough to rattle this native San Diegan, even though I was stoned and drunk out of my mind. A little context goes a long way

 

[nzsomebody]

I am not a geologist but I play one at parties and you are correct, the earth's crust here is old and cold, which results in the efficient transmission of energy...which is why the temblor was felt through such a broad portion of the country.

I've lived here most of my 188 years, and as I said earlier, this was my first quake.

Now if we can just avoid locusts and that pesky hurricane...

Pretty much. The "little" quakes can have big punches. Just take a look at Christchurch here in NZ. While it was 6.3 magnitude quake, the location that it struck at and the ground type that it was centered in created an earthquake with the most violent ground shaking a city has had to endure on record - well beyond what buildings are normally built for. Once you read about it, the magnitude rating really is a silly figure for the media to report as it really doesn't say alot about the quake. Peak Ground Acceleration is what they should be reporting.

Hopefully it was just a one off for the US east coast though. Christchurch is still getting quakes 1 year on after the whole thing started...over 7500 aftershocks so far!

 

[TomCat84]

Californians are laughing because the epicenter was 80 miles away from any big city. The only people who should have been concerned were people living in Richmond. If this had happened 80 miles away from San Francisco or L.A. or San Diego, there would have been no mass building evacuations. People would have chatted about it for a couple of minutes among themselves (except for the East Coast transplants) and gone about their business. Here, whenever we get a good size quake in San Diego, the City sends inspectors out to major structures to do cursory checks, but that's about it. CA has been embarking on retrofitting pretty much every bridge since 1996.

 

[silvertriumph2]

*YAWN* Wake me when its a 6.5 or above. "5.9 is what we Californians use to stir our coffee"

Funny article: Californians Are Being Insufferable About This Earthquake

5.9 Virginia earthquake gently rocks East Coast: 10 fantastic, Brooklyn hipster-mocking Twitter reactions - Pop2it - Zap2it

Enjoy about being so blase about it. I hope you will be ok when a big one does come your way.

NY and most of the States are part of ONE plate...not like you where you have numerious ones. When one happens many places are included.

Many of the States in this area and on the East Coast have very old buildings (mine is a 5 story, ca. 1840's, wooden and brick veneered building with only one narrow stairway) that were not built earthquake resistant. All the buildings on both sides of my block are all build about the same time and same construction. A block away from me are buildings and houses built in the 1700's and one had many windows broken yesterday...old handmade,
200+ year old glass that cannot be replaced today. The skylight in the building behind me had some broken panes and they are replacing them today. This because of an 5.9 earthquake in Virginia...hundreds of miles away!

My building, and all others in my area, are listed as "combustable" and would probably all collapse and burn in a higher category
earthquake. There were inspectors here this morning checking
for damage. A crack was fround in the bathroom wall and the
reason why some of my bath tiles fell down yesterday.

I take it seriously.....

 

[SilverTrain]

Californians are laughing because the epicenter was 80 miles away from any big city. The only people who should have been concerned were people living in Richmond. If this had happened 80 miles away from San Francisco or L.A. or San Diego, there would have been no mass building evacuations. People would have chatted about it for a couple of minutes among themselves (except for the East Coast transplants) and gone about their business. Here, whenever we get a good size quake in San Diego, the City sends inspectors out to major structures to do cursory checks, but that's about it. CA has been embarking on retrofitting pretty much every bridge since 1996.

Really quite disappointing that you should choose to take the "Oh, man, we're so hip in Cali that you poor sods out East just don't know." As someone who grew up on the West Coast and lived there for several decades (most of it in California) I can say that the reactions to, say, sub-6.0 quakes by "native" Californians varied wildly, from blase to hysteria. But honestly, anyone worth their 'quake salt knows that Richter Scale numbers don't necessarily tell one very much about the actual sensation of enduring a particular quake. As others in this thread have indicated, other factors often play a more important role in an earthquake's impact and "feel".

I endured the '71 Sylmar 'quake (6.6 on the Richter Scale), the '89 Bay Area 'quake (6.9) and the '94 (6.7) Northridge 'quake among many, many others. Those were all biggies for sure. Yesterday's east coast earthquake would qualify as a "medium" 'quake in terms of my experience with the perception of the 'quake's power and impact.

And for a bit of history, check out this list of California quakes and see just how many recent "onshore" earthquakes were bigger than yesterday's: List of earthquakes in California. Also look at how many of those were in your vaunted "city centers" as opposed to being out in the styx.

 

[TomCat84]

Enjoy about being so blase about it. I hope you will be ok when a big one does come your way.

NY and most of the States are part of ONE plate...not like you where you have numerious ones. When one happens many places are included.

Many of the States in this area and on the East Coast have very old buildings (mine is a 5 story, ca. 1840's, wooden and brick veneered building with only one narrow stairway) that were not built earthquake resistant. All the buildings on both sides of my block are all build about the same time and same construction. A block away from me are buildings and houses built in the 1700's and one had many windows broken yesterday...old handmade,
200+ year old glass that cannot be replaced today. The skylight in the building behind me had some broken panes and they are replacing them today. This because of an 5.9 earthquake in Virginia...hundreds of miles away!

My building, and all others in my area, are listed as "combustable" and would probably all collapse and burn in a higher category
earthquake. There were inspectors here this morning checking
for damage. A crack was fround in the bathroom wall and the
reason why some of my bath tiles fell down yesterday.

I take it seriously.....

After the 1994 Northridge quake, my house had big ole new cracks in the plaster in our foyer, and a huge new crack down the center of our driveway, even though San Diego was 120+ miles from the epicenter. Still, though big earthquakes are rare on the East Coast, they do happen sometimes.

 

[TomCat84]

Really quite disappointing that you should choose to take the "Oh, man, we're so hip in Cali that you poor sods out East just don't know." As someone who grew up on the West Coast and lived there for several decades (most of it in California) I can say that the reactions to, say, sub-6.0 quakes by "native" Californians varied wildly, from blase to hysteria. But honestly, anyone worth their 'quake salt knows that Richter Scale numbers don't necessarily tell one very much about the actual sensation of enduring a particular quake. As others in this thread have indicated, other factors often play a more important role in an earthquake's impact and "feel".

I endured the '71 Sylmar 'quake (6.6 on the Richter Scale), the '89 Bay Area 'quake (6.9) and the '94 (6.7) Northridge 'quake among many, many others. Those were all biggies for sure. Yesterday's east coast earthquake would qualify as a "medium" 'quake in terms of my experience with the perception of the 'quake's power and impact.

And for a bit of history, check out this list of California quakes and see just how many recent "onshore" earthquakes were bigger than yesterday's: List of earthquakes in California. Also look at how many of those were in your vaunted "city centers" as opposed to being out in the styx.

Someone is a tad bitter. I assure you, Californians are simply being tongue in cheek for the most part. 5.9 is nothing to sneeze at, but it was 80 miles from DC- nothing to be concerned about. It was rather funny though seeing people evacuate buildings all the way in NYC, for a quake that was in Virginia- and standing in the danger zone of falling glass to boot. I dont have to tell you, judging from your past experience, that if a quake is big enough to force people from inside buildings, you dont stand directly next to them. You go out into the MIDDLE of the street to protect yourself from falling glass or other building materials.
But dispense with the bitterness. Californians have endured verbal abuse from the rest of the country for a LONG time, especially from arrogant East Coasters. it's nice to have a little light hearted fun at the expense of the rest of the country for a change.

 

[flame boy]

I'm just going to leave this here.

 

[TomCat84]

I'm just going to leave this here.

+1

 

[silvertriumph2]

Someone is a tad bitter. I assure you, Californians are simply being tongue in cheek for the most part. 5.9 is nothing to sneeze at, but it was 80 miles from DC- nothing to be concerned about. It was rather funny though seeing people evacuate buildings all the way in NYC, for a quake that was in Virginia- and standing in the danger zone of falling glass to boot. I dont have to tell you, judging from your past experience, that if a quake is big enough to force people from inside buildings, you dont stand directly next to them. You go out into the MIDDLE of the street to protect yourself from falling glass or other building materials.
But dispense with the bitterness. Californians have endured verbal abuse from the rest of the country for a LONG time, especially from arrogant East Coasters. it's nice to have a little light hearted fun at the expense of the rest of the country for a change.

Just to let you know that, although we do not have the nice earthquakes that you seem to enjoy boasting and revelling in...the EAST COAST does have earthquakes also.

So, WITHOUT BITTERNESS and LIGHT HEARTED fun...I provide you with the NORTHEAST NESEC information and list of the earthquake activity from 1975 to 2010.

NESEC - Earthquakes


You might like to scroll down and read the NORTHEAST EARTHQUAKE FACTS...and maybe you will understand why, because our buildings are old and build of wood or un-reinforced masonry, so many are understandably concerned and "run out of the buildings."

What many felt was the same as I felt yesterday....since so many of us were at the WTC on 911 and NOW KNOW that buildings DO COME DOWN...and it is powerful and scary!

We may not have been all that skitterish before 911, but from
now on it is a part of us...and we may jump a bit higher now
than we did before. It is serious business to many of us.

 

[SyddyKitty]

I'm just going to leave this here.

I'll never forget the losses we suffered that day.

Let's start a war with the mole people for attacking us like that!

 

[SilverTrain]

Someone is a tad bitter. I assure you, Californians are simply being tongue in cheek for the most part. 5.9 is nothing to sneeze at, but it was 80 miles from DC- nothing to be concerned about. It was rather funny though seeing people evacuate buildings all the way in NYC, for a quake that was in Virginia- and standing in the danger zone of falling glass to boot. I dont have to tell you, judging from your past experience, that if a quake is big enough to force people from inside buildings, you dont stand directly next to them. You go out into the MIDDLE of the street to protect yourself from falling glass or other building materials.
But dispense with the bitterness. Californians have endured verbal abuse from the rest of the country for a LONG time, especially from arrogant East Coasters. it's nice to have a little light hearted fun at the expense of the rest of the country for a change.

I loathe inaccuracy in an intended snarky diss. It's almost as annoying as people predicating a mea culpa (disguised as a "nothing to see here, just light-hearted fun!") with a defensive swipe a la "someone's a tad bitter".....

 

[TomCat84]

Just to let you know that, although we do not have the nice earthquakes that you seem to enjoy boasting and revelling in...the EAST COAST does have earthquakes also.

So, WITHOUT BITTERNESS and LIGHT HEARTED fun...I provide you with the NORTHEAST NESEC information and list of the earthquake activity from 1975 to 2010.

NESEC - Earthquakes


You might like to scroll down and read the NORTHEAST EARTHQUAKE FACTS...and maybe you will understand why, because our buildings are old and build of wood or un-reinforced masonry, so many are understandably concerned and "run out of the buildings."

What many felt was the same as I felt yesterday....since so many of us were at the WTC on 911 and NOW KNOW that buildings DO COME DOWN...and it is powerful and scary!

We may not have been all that skitterish before 911, but from
now on it is a part of us...and we may jump a bit higher now
than we did before. It is serious business to many of us.

It's an earthquake. Not a collapsing building due to a terrorist attack.

I loathe inaccuracy in an intended snarky diss. It's almost as annoying as people predicating a mea culpa (disguised as a "nothing to see here, just light-hearted fun!") with a defensive swipe a la "someone's a tad bitter".....

My god nancy, get your panties out of a wad.

 

[DavidXL]

I was at work, in an office building in Manhattan. When it happened, my first thought was wondering if it was some type of terrorist attack (e.g., a bomb that had gone off either in the subway or nearby) and a for a few seconds wondered if the shaking would get worse. I've been in earthquakes in California before, but never thought we'd have one here that felt like that.