No you didn't have too much to drink--that was an earthquake

Heard on radio about an earthquake rattling the east coast of USA, centered near Richmond, VA. Was felt in Franklin County, NC, Detroit, NYC and Toronto!

[David M. Bueker]

Felt it here in CT. We actually evacuated the building.

[James Roscoe]

The Pentagon is flooded and traffic is all snarled in DC. You would think it snowed! I will say it was one of the stranger sensations.

I actually did not feel it - apparently I was in the cellar at the time, so did not get the amplified sensation from being above ground, but my wife felt it up on the second floor of the office.

Scared the living sh$t out of me. I thought our house was going to come crashing down. Amazingly, nothing fell from the walls, ceiling or shelves. The contents of our cabinets remained upright. I found no evident cracks in the foundation. And most important, none of my wine bottles came crashing down off of their somewhat flimsy wooden racks in the cellar. So in its actual impact, it may have been a "mild" quake, but I'd sure hate to experience something worse.

we were evacuated from our office building in georgetown - luckily, it was one of the nicest days of the summer, so standing around outside for 15-20 minutes was actually quite nice. my digital thermometer that rests on top of bottles in my cellar was on the ground when i got home, but everything else was fine.

my digital thermometer that rests on top of bottles in my cellar was on the ground when i got home, but everything else was fine.

There was a nice video of wine bottles falling off shelves and soundlessly smashing on the floor of a wine shop here in DC. It was not great quality video, those security cameras never are, but you could see bottles 'walking' to the edge and falling to the floor. Didn’t appear to be anything pricy but it did cause me to check our cellar first thing when I got home – all was well.

I didn't feel a thing although others in Fayetteville did. I may have been in my car at the time. I had an errand at a bank branch on Bragg Boulevard and went past the Krispy Kreme (doughnut shop). I hadn't had any lunch and it was about 2:00 so I stopped for coffee and doughnuts. Haven't done that in months or years but I may have been there when it struck.

From what we have gleaned from quasi scientific reports there are a couple of reasons why this one was felt from Maine to Georgia, whereby quakes of this nature (5.9) in the West are not felt over such an area:

a. It was "only" .6 miles deep.

b. The rock in the East is cold, and the rock in the West is warmer. Warmer rock absorbs the shock of a quake better than cold rock.

[Robin Garr]

We were apparently within the range of perception all the way over here in Louisville. Mary and I didn't feel it outdoors, but a friend who was working in Mary's garden, on hands and knees, said she definitely felt it, and a neighborhood cat who was "helping" her jumped and looked for a place to run, too.

I felt it BIG TIME in my office with a student. We almost lost our balance (rather amusement park ride like). I knew it was a quake immediately, even though I've never experienced one. Exhilarating experience.

We're renovating the main building on our campus and they are (or were) working on the underpinnings, needless to say I thought the construction company was bringing down the building. I ran outside and yelled at the foreman "what have you done?!?!?" and he says "it ain't us!" that's when I knew it was a quake. And me a California born boy.

I felt it, barely, in Toronto. I was sitting in a swivel chair with a cat on my shoulder, and I felt the chair sway once or twice. My first thought was "was the Topaz moving or was it another earthquake?". I'd felt a closer quake a few years ago in the same chair when it swayed for 30 seconds or so.

What earthquake? Hurricane Irene is a bigger threat to us here on Long Island, NY!

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

What earthquake? Hurricane Irene is a bigger threat to us here on Long Island, NY!

Salute

Well the earthquake was big news for a couple of days. But now those pesky weather folks want to wrest the publicity from the geologists.

Definitely agree with you. That’s absolutely true both the “News” and “Weather” instead of just “reporting it” (15 to 30 minutes), has become (1 hour to 2 hour) TV shows. I “survived” Hurricane Gloria, which “crippled” Long Island for about a week (some areas maybe even longer). Saw to many neighbors totally unprepared.

Salute

Some west coast friends were ribbing me that New Yorkers are woosies who can't take a little shake. What west coasters don't realize is that when they feel an earthquake, they are used to it and think, 'earthquake.' New Yorkers in Manhattan feel an earthquake and think, 'a 747 airliner just flew into my building- holy cow, I'm getting out of here.'