Earthquake in VA 5.8

[vlpate]

Sure not every day my sister reports in to me about an earthquake LOL. She lives in a 16 story building and it was swaying. Being so close to DC she thought they were under attack.

Yes, I thought about that when it first came over my phone - how scared a lot of folks were going to be. Especially in a tall building...ugh.

 

[elfie]

Wahhh, we're about 60 miles due north of epicenter and really felt it. The whole house was shaking and pictures fell of a shelf. The walls looked like jelly.

According to USGS reports in "Did you feel it?" we are reported as a 3.3 but I'm sure it was stronger than that. Maybe some were outside and then reported their experience. Just north of us it's showing as a 3.9 and 4.1.

Hope everyone is okay. I heard on the news that the nuclear plants nearest the epicenter shut down immediately.

 

[Elphaba]

Is anyone watching the earthquake coverage on Nancy Grace? You'd think it was 911 all over again. I'm blown away....does she realize no one was even hurt? She's talking about looters, and airports being closed down, imposing curfews - she's looking very serious.... A callers says it was bizarre...not traumatizing ....she went on to someone else..

Uh oh, I think she's fixin' to make them put Wolf Blitzer up....she keeps showing the same pile of bricks, from different angles over and over again. No one else is even covering it.

This is nuts. Just goes to show how she absolutely blows stories out of proportion.

Well, stay safe East Coast - hopefully the danger of aftershocks has passed. Glad everyone made it through ok.

Nancy Grace makes me ill... nothing like that is going on. Oh wait, I did loot my J 's ice-cream stash...

 

[Niner]

respectfully snipped...

During an Earthquake:

In a moving vehicle: Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires.

As you can see I'm in California - and I NEVER stop under an overpass (at red lights) if I can help it!!

Hope all are safe! That's a small ride - I've been in the Sylmar, La Prieta and Northridge quakes!!

 

[i.b.nora]

Well, frankly, ALL the cable channels have been covering the earthquake most of the day, and treating it entirely over the top and as if the entire east coast practically fell into the Atlantic. So, lets don't blame Nancy Grace for everything. It did scare alot of people, and even made some people dizzy as we have heard here.

Personally, I have been much more interested in the activities in Tripoli, and finding limited coverage of it, but that's just me.

 

[missadrienne]

I felt it in Southwestern Pennsylvania (30 miles north of Pittsburgh). Was the freakiest feeling. Dogs were going crazy right before it happened - howling, pacing back and forth, whimpering. Guess we know why, now. Slight damage by way of cracked ceilings and walls, but nothing major.

Glad everyone's okay.

 

[pferrin]

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/ this is my fav earthquake site...if you click on earthquakes last 30 days..it gives location, magnitude, depth..etc.

 

[doubt]

ok.......i get that certain talking heads did make this sound like another 9/11 and i understand the irritation with that.

BUT.....and i know i sound like a total wuss here.....this experience has me so unnerved. i was sitting in my house when it happened. apparently i am about 140 miles from the epicenter. honestly, my initial feeling was that i was having some sort of medical emergency. dizzy, nauseous....and immediately anxious. then i saw my VERY heavy floor lamp (it's an arc lamp, truly heavy as lead) wobbling around as if a feather in the wind. the pictures on the walls started waving. a bookshelf looked like it was about to snap in half from bumping against the wall behind it. i looked out the back porch and everything was rocking. my son came running down the stairs and fortunately, he wasn't nearly as nervous as i was. even now, i do not feel right. i can't describe it exactly. it's like i feel on the verge of a dizzy spell.

we have had a wildfire going on for weeks on end, still uncontained....and irene is heading right smack at us. i am the sole parent of four, three still live at home, although one of those is older and always gone. one of the biggest fears i have in life is that something might happen from which i cannot protect my children. today magnified that fear.....which probably explains why i still feel "off."

anyhow, sorry for the ramble and i do know for that those not affected the more dramatic of the broadcasts is probably irritating.

 

[sorrell skye]

pferrin - that's my fav seismic website, too (I've had it bookmarked for years, especially since I live in a major seismic zone).

I checked it earlier today, and it looks as if there have been several aftershocks in VA throughout the day - one registered 4.2.

 

[sorrell skye]

ok.......i get that certain talking heads did make this sound like another 9/11 and i understand the irritation with that.

BUT.....and i know i sound like a total wuss here.....this experience has me so unnerved. i was sitting in my house when it happened. apparently i am about 140 miles from the epicenter. honestly, my initial feeling was that i was having some sort of medical emergency. dizzy, nauseous....and immediately anxious. then i saw my VERY heavy floor lamp (it's an arc lamp, truly heavy as lead) wobbling around as if a feather in the wind. the pictures on the walls started waving. a bookshelf looked like it was about to snap in half from bumping against the wall behind it. i looked out the back porch and everything was rocking. my son came running down the stairs and fortunately, he wasn't nearly as nervous as i was. even now, i do not feel right. i can't describe it exactly. it's like i feel on the verge of a dizzy spell.

we have had a wildfire going on for weeks on end, still uncontained....and irene is heading right smack at us. i am the sole parent of four, three still live at home, although one of those is older and always gone. one of the biggest fears i have in life is that something might happen from which i cannot protect my children. today magnified that fear.....which probably explains why i still feel "off."

anyhow, sorry for the ramble and i do know for that those not affected the more dramatic of the broadcasts is probably irritating.

doubt - no need to apologize. Your post is not a 'ramble' and you ARE NOT a wuss. I experienced a very strong earthquake in 2001. I was home and my children were both @ school. I felt so scared & helpless when I wasn't able to contact them (the phone lines were overloaded) to make sure they were all right.

When an earthquake hits, there is no way to know how strong it's going to be or how long it's going to last, or how much damage it's going to do (especially in an area where there are older buildings).

Frankly, I'm surprised this EQ hasn't caused more damage than it did, considering how shallow it was (about 3 mi. deep), but I'm very thankful the damage has been minimal.

Big hugs, doubt!

 

[JourneyRain]

I totally missed this and I'm in VB. I guess I was enjoying Chick-fil-a too much. I kept getting texts about it and was like what are people talking about.

But then I did sleep through one in Indiana before.

 

[Nore]

I felt it in Southwestern Pennsylvania (30 miles north of Pittsburgh). Was the freakiest feeling. Dogs were going crazy right before it happened - howling, pacing back and forth, whimpering. Guess we know why, now. Slight damage by way of cracked ceilings and walls, but nothing major.

Glad everyone's okay
----------------
We had one in Ohio in 1986. It was 5.6 or 5.8..It was in Lake Erie off the shore of Mentor. Sounded like a big truck coming. The basement sounded weird!! It was barely mentioned on tv, there was damage in some areas. Me, a crack in the closet wall:seeya:

 

[vlpate]

Well, frankly, ALL the cable channels have been covering the earthquake most of the day, and treating it entirely over the top and as if the entire east coast practically fell into the Atlantic. So, lets don't blame Nancy Grace for everything. It did scare alot of people, and even made some people dizzy as we have heard here.

Personally, I have been much more interested in the activities in Tripoli, and finding limited coverage of it, but that's just me.

I've absolutely no doubt people were very afraid...I lived in California in the 70's and worked in a restaurant that had this huge chandelier - there were a couple of small quakes and that chandelier scared the living poop out of me...ran screaming out of the restaurant the first time.

I was working all day and trying to find more on CNN on my phone, but there weren't a lot of reports. Nancy was just over the top....BREAKING NEWS TONIGHT...strongest earthquake to hit the East coast in 100 years....then she shows crowds of people, some rocks that had fallen...I switched to all the major network, and CNN/MSNBC...nothing. I had to turn the station or throw my hamster at the TV.

 

[doubt]

ss....thank you for being so kind. your words made me feel much better.

 

[i.b.nora]

LOL. Well, she wasn't exaggerating, it was the strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast since 1897, I think it was. But, seriously, it was non-stop coverage of it on cable all day here. I had been watching the great coverage of the rebels taking over the compound in Tripoli and it was very exciting and then all of a sudden, nothing but talk of this earthquake, which I understand scared alot of people. I have been through dozens of earthquakes of varying degrees. Most don't scare me. Some startle me. The Loma Prieta one scared the living daylights out of me, and kept me literally weak-kneed and lily livered for a few weeks after.
So, I sympathize with the people today, and hope that they will experience no more earthquakes in their lifetime.

 

[Soulmagent]

I didnt feel the 4.2 after shock as I was driving.
My hubby felt it and I was upset I missed it.

I am glad to know I am not the only one with the dizzy ,motion like type of feeling. I have had it since the EQ hit.

I think I just felt an after shock ,I know I heard something??

 

[Misfitdolly]

It was felt all the way up here in RI and I even heard reports of it being felt in Vermont. I didn't feel anything shaking but I did feel dizzy, nauseous, and my ears were popping. I didn't realize it had anything to do with the quake until much later (thought it was my sinuses). People on the Navy base less than 2 miles from my house reported feeling the buildings shake.

 

[Gracenote]

My sister was in her building on campus and everything shook and shimmied. I was across the street and we felt nothing. Makes no sense. I never get to feel the earthquakes. We are in west central Georgia by the way.

 

[Nova]

ok.......i get that certain talking heads did make this sound like another 9/11 and i understand the irritation with that.

BUT.....and i know i sound like a total wuss here.....this experience has me so unnerved....

You're not a wuss. I agree there is something specifically unnerving about an earthquake.

Tornados and hurricanes may be more deadly (not always, but often), but there is at least an illusion of control because there is a warning system, one can evacuate or take cover, etc.

Earthquakes strike without warning and seem to shake the entire world. Of course, that's unnerving!

 

[Nova]

My sister was in her building on campus and everything shook and shimmied. I was across the street and we felt nothing. Makes no sense. I never get to feel the earthquakes. We are in west central Georgia by the way.

Next time you do a load of wash, hop up on the washer or dryer. Set a full stack of dishes on the machine next to you. It's kinda like that.