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East coast earthquake.

Was working in my recording studio in Bethesda, MD when the quake happened. It lasted for about 30 seconds, but was enough for us to evacuate the building. Everything was ok after that, except for the fact that despite having service, no one could get though to anyone on cell phones for at least an hour. I was just now able to call my fiancee in Baltimore (who felt it too), and my mom in Florida (who wasn't even aware of it:rolleyes:)

Internet was fine, and I had been reading the responses on CNN for the last hour. Apparently there are Californians who think that people in DC are a bunch of whining pussies because to them, a 5.8 quake is nothing. Apparently they all seemed to have forgotten that everyone who lives and works in the District still has a feeling of innate dread about terrorist attacks, despite the eventual realization that it was a quake.
 
I am only 96 km from the 5.9 epicenter. This is extraordinarily rare for VA.

I was in the middle of a bridge tunnel when it happened, didn't feel it, but my friends felt it strongly

Epicenter is 37.875°N, 77.908°W
 
Minor shaking in the 100-year-old building where I work, no damage, but we did get sent home. :techman:

I went to school in Charlottesville; everybody I still know in the area reported that things are fine, even in Lousia, where the epicenter was.

The hurricane coming up the coast this weekend may prove more exciting...
 
Yeah, when I was on the USGS site I saw that and I was like "what the hell?!" :lol:
 
We felt it here at Walter Reed, but I thought that maybe they decided to close the base early. :P
 
Yep, I felt in in VA. Most bizarre thing I ever experienced in my life.

At first, I thought it was some IT guy rolling some heavy rack equipment down the hallway. Then I noticed the cube around me start shaking. Then, as I was sitting on my chair with rollers, the entire building around me started moving and I was remaining still.

I've lived in VA for 35 years, and we've had a few baby quakes in that time - NOTHING like this. Bunch of guys from CA laughed it off like it was nothing. I reminded them that buildings out here are generally not constructed like they are on the left coast to endure quakes of that magnitude.

They stopped laughing.

At that point, I started.
 
137th Gebirg said:
Yep, I felt in in VA. Most bizarre thing I ever experienced in my life.

At first, I thought it was some IT guy rolling some heavy rack equipment down the hallway. Then I noticed the cube around me start shaking. Then, as I was sitting on my chair with rollers, the entire building around me started moving and I was remaining still.

I've lived in VA for 35 years, and we've had a few baby quakes in that time - NOTHING like this. Bunch of guys from CA laughed it off like it was nothing. I reminded them that buildings out here are generally not constructed like they are on the left coast to endure quakes of that magnitude.

They stopped laughing.

At that point, I started.
Click to expand...

:lol:
 
137th Gebirg said:
Yep, I felt in in VA. Most bizarre thing I ever experienced in my life.

At first, I thought it was some IT guy rolling some heavy rack equipment down the hallway. Then I noticed the cube around me start shaking. Then, as I was sitting on my chair with rollers, the entire building around me started moving and I was remaining still.

I've lived in VA for 35 years, and we've had a few baby quakes in that time - NOTHING like this. Bunch of guys from CA laughed it off like it was nothing. I reminded them that buildings out here are generally not constructed like they are on the left coast to endure quakes of that magnitude.

They stopped laughing.

At that point, I started.
Click to expand...

It's a (death) trap!
 
Apparently, a few people felt it up here, too. I missed it myself, as there's construction going on across the street, so anything we did get would have been lost in that.
 
That was weird. I basically wondered what the shaking was and wondered if it was a fat guy walking down the hall or something. Then I see people from the west coast go under the table. They turn and look at us and say "haven't you ever been in an earthquake before?"

Then we have half our class, took our break, and found out the building was supposed to have been evacuated. That's about it.
 
Alidar Jarok said:
That was weird. I basically wondered what the shaking was and wondered if it was a fat guy walking down the hall or something. Then I see people from the west coast go under the table. They turn and look at us and say "haven't you ever been in an earthquake before?"

Then we have half our class, took our break, and found out the building was supposed to have been evacuated. That's about it.
Click to expand...

When I was in elementary, middle, and high school we had earthquake drills every so often, usually when we practiced fire alarms. An alarm would go off and we'd all dive under our desks and cover our heads, it was actually kind of fun.

It is funny how different kinds of faults create very different feeling quakes. Someone told me that this one felt like airplane turbulance, and I thought that was a very good description for many quakes.
 
There is some talk about the USGS worrying this may have been a preshock to a larger quake, and is looking at the stresses the reigons fault lines are under.
 
I'm in Fredericksburg, VA, and we really felt it here. I've never been in an earthquake, so I was pretty scared. There was some pretty rough shaking and rolling, and it lasted about a half a minute. Felt like longer.

No damage at home except for stuff knocked off the shelves, a couple of broken dishes, and a terrified kitten. :(
 
Dukhat said:
Internet was fine, and I had been reading the responses on CNN for the last hour. Apparently there are Californians who think that people in DC are a bunch of whining pussies because to them, a 5.8 quake is nothing. Apparently they all seemed to have forgotten that everyone who lives and works in the District still has a feeling of innate dread about terrorist attacks, despite the eventual realization that it was a quake.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Fuck them. California can't handle rain, lack of rain, wind, or a cigarette being flicked out a window without half the state imploding.

Also...I mock their value system.
 
Spot's Meow said:
Alidar Jarok said:
That was weird. I basically wondered what the shaking was and wondered if it was a fat guy walking down the hall or something. Then I see people from the west coast go under the table. They turn and look at us and say "haven't you ever been in an earthquake before?"

Then we have half our class, took our break, and found out the building was supposed to have been evacuated. That's about it.
Click to expand...

When I was in elementary, middle, and high school we had earthquake drills every so often, usually when we practiced fire alarms. An alarm would go off and we'd all dive under our desks and cover our heads, it was actually kind of fun.

It is funny how different kinds of faults create very different feeling quakes. Someone told me that this one felt like airplane turbulance, and I thought that was a very good description for many quakes.
Click to expand...

Airplane turbulence works. I was thinking a boat swaying. It doesn't feel natural, but, then again, since I was on the fourth floor of a building, it felt like something that could easily be something related to the building. Obviously, Californians have faced worse, but it was definitely bizarre to me.
 
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