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Magnitude 5.8 earthquake shakes Virginia, D.C. and New York


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Was on the 7th floor of an office building in downtown DC when the earthquake hit. At first it sounded like some kind of construction in the building, then the thought occurred that maybe something had been detonated; echoes of 9-11 were felt. Somebody yelled "earthquake" and things snapped into place. I lived in California for about 6 year sin the late 70s-early 80s, and had ben in 4 or 5 quakes. It all instantly made sense. The flood of people out of DC did remind me of 9-11. In both cases, I stayed in the the city until the exodus lightened. Got home and found some pictures and bric-a-brac knocked of walls and shelves. Fortunately, the CDs and LPs stayed in place. Believe me, that was on my mind! sad.gifph34r.gif

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My glass of water started to shake a few minutes ago in NYC and not CNN reports a 5.8 quake on the east coast.

Anyone on the east of the US feel it?

I was driving and would not have known a thing but for hearing it on the radio. Obviously, I was surprised when I did hear it. My next thought was that even a slight shake could knock my guitar off the stand at home and possibly damage it. I called my roommate and he looked and it was not the case. My general feeling is NYC was pretty unmolested. I hope that once things calm down this is the case on the entire east coast.

Gonna watch the news update now...

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My glass of water started to shake a few minutes ago in NYC and not CNN reports a 5.8 quake on the east coast.

Anyone on the east of the US feel it?

I was driving and would not have known a thing but for hearing it on the radio. Obviously, I was surprised when I did hear it. My next thought was that even a slight shake could knock my guitar off the stand at home and possibly damage it. I called my roommate and he looked and it was not the case. My general feeling is NYC was pretty unmolested. I hope that once things calm down this is the case on the entire east coast.

Gonna watch the news update now...

And that's why I always keep 'em in a case or gig bag. One never knows when there's going to be a quake in Jersey.

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Here in San Diego we're organizing a relief convoy. We're worried that by the time we get there the zombies will have taken over and there will only be Will Smith left. Right now we are seeing footage of a chandelier swinging on CNN! Just hope you east coast guys can still read this - I guess it's a bit like The Road out there right now. Guys, cannibalism is wrong, but it's relative, and when there is no other way...

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Posted on Facebook by a friend:

I just heard that today's earthquake totally wiped out Louisa, Virginia. Property damage is expected to be in the hundreds of dollars...

Sounds like a variant on Ronnie Scott's "Last night they nuked Stockton-on-Tees, causing £4.50 worth of damage" :lol:

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Yes there was a measurable earthquake on the east coast. This is at least noteworthy, if not newsworthy, because it happens infrequently over here. No one is comparing it to the big deals that have occurred in the past on the west coast or recently in Japan. I'm sure there would be volumes of breathless chatter if SF got a foot and a half of snow some weekend.

The west coast snark grows tiresome quickly. Hopefully it is aimed primarily at the media coverage (like with all things frequently enters overkill mode). Many of us on the east coast reacted with a smile at the noteworthy/newsworthy event but were not in panic mode like some of the snark suggests. For me, I was in my office on the 9th floor of a downtown DC building. Felt the windows/walls vibrate, got to walk down 9 stories and stand on the street corner for about 20 minutes chatting with coworkers before returning to my desk and my job. On the commute home, Metro ran at 15 mph all the way out to NoVA, because they were not sure about the condition of train stations. No big deal.

I find it kind of surprising that an area with so many old buildings did not suffer greater damage. Time will tell how long the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral remain out of commission.

At home, my beloved wife (...born and raised in California) was concerned that the shelving units that house the jazz CD collection may have tipped over. God bless her. Turns out the shelving remained upright--only a few CDs at the end of each row tipped over slightly. That and a few file cabinet drawers that swung open were the extent of the effects we experienced.

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While I fully sympathize with how you all feel, to put things in perspective, on the night of the big quake here there were over 100 aftershocks, several of them more than 5.0.

Maybe you won't believe this but my missus still has emergency bags ready packed and sitting near the porch.

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While I fully sympathize with how you all feel, to put things in perspective, on the night of the big quake here there were over 100 aftershocks, several of them more than 5.0.

Maybe you won't believe this but my missus still has emergency bags ready packed and sitting near the porch.

Oh I believe it! And the biggest one that I've been in was "only" a 6.9. I can barely imagine what Japan went through.

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I made no snarky comments from my end of the West Coast. No need to tempt fate. Earthquakes are scary as hell, and from what I understand the shaking covers a larger area in the East because the bedrock is solid. Plus the buildings aren't built to the same safety code, so they sway more. The noise of an earthquake is a singular experience, it's such a horrible roar.

A rumble in Virginia, a grumble in Colorado...the whispering worry in the back of my mind is the big volcano between them that we call Yellowstone.

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