5.8 Earthquake on the EAST coast?!

[syrusb]

So uh... yeah. I was just finishing a late lunch when the house started vibrating violently

Comments

[linenoise]

I am glad that you (and everyone else that I've heard from) is all fine and nobody got hurt or stuff broken. *hughug*

I am not participating in mockery, because then the universe will decide to give me sideways rain so that y'all can laugh at me, and I don't do well with sideways rain. So you can keep your storms over *there*, and I apologize profusely for sharing our earthquakes with you.

And, even despite having been through plenty of them, anything close to (or over, god forbid) a 6.0 is still a bit of a shock. Big enough to give you quite a start, even if all of us over here would just sort of shrug and go back to work after.

[saintnicster]

I still remember when you basically gave vent an "uhhh, BRB earthquake". I think that one was a 5 or so

[staxxy]

that's damn close to the epicenter, and I knew you were so that is why I have been very worried about you since I heard the earthquake happened.

And the 6.[uh something? 2 or 3, maybe 0... I dont recall the point number] we had in Seattle last? destroyed building in downtown, put cracks into the viaduct significant enough that it has to be replaced, cause significant damage to homes in the area.

So those people saying "pshhh 5.8 is no big deal, I live in CA" are IDIOTS and have no concept of insurance, home ownership, infrastructure, or city budgets.

5.8 is a big damn deal in any populated area.

[spyderqueen]

Especially in an area that is not even remotely built for earthquakes. Some buildings in DC (including the National Cathedral I'm told) did take actual damage. My parents (near Annapolis) are having to worry that the wells cracked.

[staxxy]

exactly!

[patrickat]

We felt it all the way up here in Northeast Ohio. Building seemed to sway for a good minute, made the windows creak and the blinds rattle. Felt like being on an airplane, except I was on the 10th floor of a 100-year-old brick office building. Glad you're okay. The SoCal people who were laughing can suck it. :P

[quasadu]

Another thing a lot of people don't realize is that, aside from not being prepared and buildings not being built with quakes in mind, any quake on the east coast is much worse than an equal magnitude quake on the west coast. The tectonic plate under the west coast is broken all to pieces, so quakes are more contained. The east coast sits on one huge plate without a lot of fragments, so a small quake travels much farther.

[patrickat]

Which is why friends of mine as far away as Montreal tweeted that they felt it... minutes after reading my tweet. Internet travels faster than seismic waves.

[staxxy]

that is interesting to note.

[linenoise]

Yeah, I still remember the latest decent one in SoCal, where I first experienced the "internet is faster than seismic waves" thing. It's *weird* to see a Tweet from someone in San Diego, and then like 90 seconds later I'm shaking.

[crossfire]

I've never experienced a significant earthquake. I fully expect to be completely freaked out about my first one.