Hope that we are all safe and sound and our loved ones as well. For many of us this was our first felt quake and a pretty powerful one at that. As we get our bearings again I hope we will check in and share our unique experiences here with each other.
As I delivered my newspaper route about 20 mins after quake, lots of my customers were outside. I stopped and talked to many about their experience and asked some questions...
Were you inside or out side?
Was there any noise?
How long did it take you to realize what was happening?
Any unusual animal/bird behavior? Please include your pets here...
Did you do anythings while it lasted (30-45 seconds)?
If you've experienced a quake before how did this one compare?
Or anything you wish to post.
North American Plate Shakes us all..Please check in
What a funny feeling! I was outside , squatting in the driveway, edging the wintercreepr. First I thought, was I losing my balance, but it wasn't right for that. As my dad said, when you lose your balance your top end goes over but with this the bottom was moving. It felt like sitting on something that somebody was jiggling sideways. How bizarre, my first quake ever.
Pets were elsewhere so I don't know if they reacted.
Hey! I guess I'll start
I was inside finishing my paperwork for the day, we live pretty close to an AFB so when it started for a second I thought it was a low fly over, then I thought it may be a truck but didn't hear anything....there was a really weird feeling with the air(for some reason) that made me look outside but there was no wind
my ceiling light was swinging like crazy and the whole house was rolling side to side...VERY WEIRD feeling
Obviously my first because it took me a few seconds to even figure out what was going on....as I'm calling my hubby with my cell I'm posting on FB...funny don't turn the news on but immediately turn to FB. Went outside and walked over to my neighbor's she came out about the same time and told me she immediately checked the news and found out it was centered in VA
Kids were at school and I couldn't get thru so that kinda freaked me out, but they do have an emergency listing on their website(nothing listed) but left early to go pick them up
Wall-e slept thru the whole thing
Funny thing with my hubby....hubby and biz partner were talking about natural disasters, biz partner says hurricane gonna hit but would be more worried about a tornado- hubby says eh, not me I'm more concerned about the earthquake that's gonna hit you know we are on a fault line...sure enough a few minutes later the earthquake happens...hubby ran out and bought some lottery tickets
and when it hit...he was in the bathroom at a supply house, he thought we was having a stroke because he kept missing the urinal!!!
oops guess Sally types faster than me....not the first....LOL
This message was edited Aug 23, 2011 9:05 PM
LOL the DH, jen... and I just didn't have as good a story to tell so I got done quicker
I will c/p my comments from the other Thread--that morphed into this one....
**********************************
I was sitting outside, under my patio, transplanting Pregnant Onions in 4" clay pots...
I cannot tell you how weird it was to, all of a sudden, see the patio roof and the house moving.
I was like--Oh, my God! I hope the patio does not come apart from the house!!!
At the same time--I realized--that the earth was moving--and the structures were moving as part of it--
NOT individually! I was not scared---but, somewhat. perplexed...And--I thought! We are having an earthquake!
The whole "thing" lasted only about 10 seconds--if that long...
Nothing was damaged--nothing fell off anything..etc...I walked the whole house!
Then spent about 45 minutes listening to all the freaked out stuff on TV. I guess they just HAVE TO do that!
Overkill! That's what it was with all the reporters and the news anchors...
HEY! FINALLY---something to talk about! Everybody trying to grab the audience...
This was a first in my life--and only one of 3 such events here in MD. We just do not get earthquakes here!
THAT I found a bit scary! A 5.9 on the Richter scale! WOW!!! What's next?
They did say that the earthquake was 3.75 miles deep. Hmmm...Whasssup down there?????
Need to call my friend in NC--they are not that far from Richmond!!!
All that talk about aftershocks did get me a bit worries....So I got a roll of masking tape and taped it across
all my deco shelves with glasses and pictures an nick-knacks on them--in case there was a strong rumblle--
Nothing would fall off. They would be protected by the tape.
Put a strong rubber band around the door knobbies of my hutch so it would not fly open.
I have a lot of crystal in there-----and some of it is VERY antique.
I will keep it there for a couple days....just in case.....Gita
We are all good here. Didn't feel anything at our house but they did just a few miles away and in talking to people seems pretty hit or miss. Some people within a mile or so of each other did or didn't feel it. No big damage in our area but a lot of excitement. They evaculated some of the State Bldgs in Harrisburg.
I was at the Doctor's office in Newville, Pa, about 11 miles from Carlisle. I was in the patient examining room sitting on a chair & Dr. Mike was standing in front of me telling me how he was going to treat my bladder infection when the chair with me on it started going from side to side & so did Dr. Mike. He said what was that & I said earthquake. He looked out the window several times to see if anybody was blasting in the area. When I got in the car & turned on the radio, I heard about the quaks. Bob was at home & Fritzie started barking & looking at the ceiling while Bob just held on. The house shook & cracked. Jeez Louise, I was so "shaken" that I left the Dr's office completely forgetting to get my flu shot. OMG. But we are ok. Thank God for that.
I missed this one completely. Was driving David's vehicle on route 15 and didn't experience anything strange, but then am not used to driving it. David was in College Park in my vehicle and called me minutes after I got home. He apparently was in slow traffic and his first impression as he was slowing down was that the brakes were not working and kept pushing harder. I was just a bit puzzled when I came in the house before he called and a picture had fallen over and something else as well.
The previous early morning one did wake me up with noise and movement. Wish I had been home for this one. Loved flowAjen's comment from her DH!
Yes, people I spoke with who were driving at higher speeds really didn't notice anything and were surprised to hear their spouse at home's reaction. Several Chesapeake Bay waterfront property owners described the tall old trees on their property swaying 2-3 feet during event. Several mentioned a door or two that no longer "closed" as easily as before. Two noted that it got very quiet and then birds all taking flight at once.
Most around here thought it was an explosion at first, possibly a bomb in DC or terrorist attack. The low rumbling sound was like nothing I had heard before. My little house "worked" more than any sailboat I have been on in high winds or stormy weather. It is easy for me to understand now what that shake could do to multistory buildings. Have yet to hear any accounts of experience of Bay Bridge. At 4.5 strength buildings start to fall.
Gita, my tv was on the whole time with station out of Baltimore never breaking in to report anything. It was maddening feeling that we had had an earthquake but getting no confirmation of same. I headed for my car deciding to head off and try to get to the newspaper as surely a newspaper would have some idea what was going on...for all I knew I could have been heading into more danger...Finally about 15 to 20 minutess after shake public radio broke the news to me. (What ever happened to the emergency broadcast system???Maybe there needs to be an earthquake icon that can appear on our screens.) My computer was also on, but useless as I am on dialup and it seems all communication channels were on overload. Have since learned that texting is better that voice with cell overload.
Interesting to note the time it took for the shake to make itself felt throughout our region and how long or strong it was...I know I counted to 40 maybe missing a few Mississippis during the tremblor here.
Jen, I love you sharing your DH first thoughts!
I was in my laundry room getting ready to put wet clothes in the dryer. I heard an enormously loud noise and like Jen, believed it to be some sort of engine because John has some loud machinery around here at times. I had never heard one this loud though and then the house began to shake and the dishes sitting on the cabinets and things began to rattle. Man, what was this man doing?
I didn't have time or the thought to panic because I wanted to find him and tell him to stop making all that noise. I walked to the back door and opened it and looked out and he was standing in the middle of yard and not near any machinery. The rumbling and rattling were still occuring. I then thought we are having an earthquake and yelled the same to him. He agreed. The funny thing is I looked up the hillside to our only neighbor that we can see and she too was out on her deck. I had to laugh because she is a California transplant to here. I told John that she thought she had left these sort of occurrences behind.
Nothing fell off of the shelves but I looked and could tell from the dust build up that each piece
had moved about a half an inch. John tells me we are about 70 miles from the epicenter in Mineral VA. Will have to ask him what direction we are because my pea brain can't figure that out at the moment.
Anyway....very exciting and I can now say I survived an earthquake. There have supposedly been smaller ones here in the past twenty years but I didn't experience them to any degree, just heard talk of them later.
I was quite surprised and pleased by the folks who emailed or called me and asked about my safety. Thanks all.
Ruby
Perhaps, because i was sitting outside, I missed the earlier rumbles and movements that I would have seen/felt
had I been inside my house. I might have also heard cups and glasses clinking...
All I saw was when the house and the patio roof seemed to be moving...After less than 10 seconds--that stopped.
VERY, VERY weird feeling!!!
My phone did not work--possibly from overload. My cell phone was dead--as I never use it...
Judy--here WJZ-TV ( ch. 21) was right on it within minutes. You can check their website. wjztv.com
Damage? There was a really old church downtown that had all these small turrets on top.
One of then broke off and tumbled to the sidewalk below. Pretty big chunks of concrete.
This morning on radio they were saying that there were some cracks in some of the taller "features"--
like the Washington Monument here--and it was closed to all visitors. There was something else damaged????
Anyone know what the time-frame is for aftershocks? Is it hours--or days?
Gita
Aftershocks can be both hours and days after
There was a school close to the epi center that was very heavily damaged
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-news/2011/aug/23/video-louisa-high-school-damaged-earthquake-ar-1258042/
The National Cathedral (where my cuz, Susan attends church & sings in the choir) lost 3 of 6 turret tips. Bet that will cost a small fortune to repair.
Several chimneys on the Colonial era buildings here are damaged. The bricks are being removed and will be shipped out to be cleaned and reconditioned before they can be remortared in place. Buttoneer, I would imagine one of the problems other than massive cost, will be to find stone masons/carvers to do repairs or replacements, another lost art!
Public Radio did a segment today on how the animals at the National Zoo responded to the quake
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/AnimalCare/News/earthquake.cfm
Our electric company has already robo-called all customers to alert them to prepare for major outages with Irene's approach. So, one good thing about the quake may be that it gave us all a trial run on our emergency preparedness and systems for same..
Anyway my thoughts are turning to how I will navigate the wee hours of Sunday morning this weekend, delivering the Sunday Paper while Irene brings whatever to our region. Enjoy the calm between the storms and quakes of life and keep checking in!
Just found the USGS (US Geological Survey) site with more info than I've ever wanted to know about earthquakes and seismic activity, etc. I've reported my experience here under "Did You Feel It?"
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/se/082311a/us/index.html
I'm late checking in... the epicenter was about 30 miles from our home. We are all OK, and have no damage. The kitties were traumatized last night and would not come out at all! I was at work and have a huge window behind me at my desk. I know I rolled back away from the window, and just sat in my chair, stunned! My first (and hopefully last) earthquake experience! Scary stuff, but all in all, we must consider ourselves very lucky! It was nothing like CA has had in the past, or Haiti.
I was in the office on the 20th floor in downtown Baltimore. We felt the first quake and was just wondering what it was when the second one came. Then people started to shout "evacuate!!!" We had had fire drills before so we all ran to the stairways. The evacuation was calm and orderly, but it was a SLOOOOOW one. It took us 10 minutes to walk down, which made us wonder if we would have a chance to get out if something had really happened to the building, for example a fire on the 5th floor :-(
You definitely don't want to be caught on the 20th floor during an earthquake :-(
I heard on the radio this AM that there had been an aftershock at 1:20 AM last night.
It was measured at 4.5--but not in all locations. Some places it was just 2.1.
I imagine most people slept through it...I am sure we will all hear about that.
I am waiting to hear just WHAT slipped and slid 3+ miles deep that we had this earthquake.???
The extensive areas affected is bizarre---from VA to New England to Ohio. Also some reports
that it was felt as far up as Canada. Anyone have more info. on this?
Now everyone is bracing for the onslaught of hurricane Irene.
We might as well continue reporting our experiences with that right here.
So far--we here in Baltimore, are supposed to get about 5" of heavy rains Saturday into Sunday....Again!
As I write this--we are having a heavy T-Shower with lots of rain. Enough is enough!!!!
Sure saves on watering the garden and lawns.....:o)
Gita
Last night's aftershock was strong enough to wake me from a dead sleep! Scared me bad enough that it took an hour to go back to sleep!
Enough with the "shake, rattle, and roll!"
I don't know if we had aftershocks haven't been able to watch the news yet.
A few friends on FB said they were woken up with that aftershock
I was very well aware of the afternoon quake but was one who slept through the aftershock. It woke John up though he says.
Anyway.....it's all good.
Ruby
I awoke several times last nite but didn't check the times...no shaking while up and I quickly went back to sleep, vaguely remembering that I had beden dreaming an "earthquake dream" (I have recurring tornado, mushroom cloud, etc dreams, too.) Must have incorporated shaking into my dream like I can do with a ringing telephone.
Flowajen, whether or not NJ is more a part of Northeast or Mid Atlantic seems we are all seismically connected!! Wanted to formally note and thankyou for your concern for your Mid Atlantic neighbors as you have often posted alerts and comments here that may indeed have been the only source of a natural event occurring area wide. Thanks for all your "Heads UPs"
Judy
Awww, you're welcome!^_^
Nice to know everyone seems OK. Guess the Hurricane will be the next concern. I know there will be some problems with flooding at least for some of us.
We all got a mass phone message today from BG&E (our gas and Electric Co.)
Basically--they said to make preparations NOW in case we would lose power.
If you have ever lost power (who hasn't?) you know how helpless you are in total darkness.
How you worry about all the food in your refrigerator and freezer, etc...
I believe, as far as your freezer goes, it will all be OK for at least 2 days--IF you do not go
opening the door to "check'..My freezer is packed--so that would help keep it frozen longer.
Open the refrigerator as little as possible.
If you have stuff that HAS TO be kept cold--set up a cooler with ice in it--just in case....
What I will do is---
make sure all my flashlights have good batteries in them
make sure I have candles and matches where I will need a bit of light
and--not knowing what else to do--will probably go to bed really early.....:o)
Gita
Hubby getting the generator ready and I'll be putting away anything that can go airborne. I don't need any food...don't understand why it's always bread and milk that sells out, milk won't last too long if not refrigerated I'd be more concerned with not having water
Our governor declared a state of emergency for Sunday
Mandatory evacuation orders issued for LBI, Cape May, Atlantic counties
I am in Williamstown and I am getting things prepared for the storm. W have tied down outside furniture and i will go around tomorrow and check for more items that might need to come in or be moved to a more protected area. I will move my plants in pots too, not sure where at this point.
I think all my potted stuff will go in the shed
Evidently trees are very vulnerable (especially in NJ) because of lack of moisture much of summer and now lots of rain. That's why they are anticipating lots of power outages. Since my house is surrounded by large mature trees, I'm re thinking where best to be safe during this storm, Also secretly praying that the newspaper I deliver will offer alternative plans for delivery other than driving around in the middle of a hurricane. Also, my vehicles are older and not covered by Comprehensive insurance, so if damaged by this storm I can't recoupe...
Reminder to self to put some things in plastic bags just in case roof is damaged. I have tarps but I can't put them up at height of storm...
Stores, gas stations and road traffic was super crazy all day, likely to be worse tomorrow.
Stay safe all and check in when you can.
Ha, I came home from work at 9 05 pm and the gas station was full!
Make some extra ice now if you have any room left in the freezer.
Fortunately (??) my kitchen fridge has been half broken for weeks so I have minimal food anyway. I have another fridge downstairs. My new one is supposed to come next Tuesday and I will be bummed if this screws it up, OR if I can't power it the day it comes.
Well water user- we will have buckets to collect rain for toilet flushing. The kids just love that (not!)
In the past, the day AFTER the hurricane has had the most beautiful clear blue sky and fresh air...and not having TV has been refreshing too. Lack of computer, now that will hurt a bit- except I have my fabby smart phone, best Bday present I've about ever gotten.
Charge up cell phones.
BTW- my co worker comes from the Phillipines. THey have tremors like this one, once or twice a year. And a huge major earthquake in the 90's, that was sobering to hear from her and of course their tremors are not automatically dismissed as no biggie.
Have started a new hurricane Irene thread here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1216223/
Out to move some plants now.
Here's another take on the quake.
This one was by no means the first--I used to live in Southern California and had felt many tremors and one major one, but I don't recall the magnitude, but it was similar to the one I felt on Aug. 23rd, 2011. In California, the floors in our house would rumble. I was outside playing with other kids when the major one moved the earth and some of us fell down.
I was at work in my office in D.C., sitting at my desk when the quake hit. Just before that, I heard a strange grinding/hissing sound that I thought was machines of some kind, either inside the building or out. The floor seemed to wave then wobble, wave then wobble, and I was shook and wobbled one more time. I thought at first a bomb had gone off below me: then the next two waves and wobbles were tell-tale. I panicked for a few seconds because I didn't know if the floor or ceiling would cave in next.
People in my office came around to my cubicle and told me that we had to evacuate. Well, we had to stand out on a street corner for over an hour before they said to go home. We saw helicopters of the Park Police flying around the Washington Monument (I work across the street from it). I was scared sick to go inside Metro. What if one of those bricks in the ceiling came loose? What if the tracks cracked and a fire started? What if the escalators collapsed?
Well, my DH had driven in to D.C. that morning because he took our son to a summer camp so I called him to meet me to go home. However, he had left his keys in his office, and couldn't go back in to get them. So, we had to wait what seemed like another hour before they allowed people to go back in the building to get what they needed and get out. Phew!!
The office was closed the next day for inspection, so we had a little holiday....Still, the ordeal was unnerving. I bet Californians are laughing at us.
Sorry you has such a worrisome day of it.
Yes they're giggling but also saying, better safe than sorry.
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