5.9 Earthquake

**Scud** · 08-24-2011, 05:25 AM,

The earthquake in Virginia today shook my whole steel and glass office building. Set off all the alarms and they evacuated the building...and I'm in New Jersey!! My daughter called freaking out, cause our house was shaking so badly.

Kinda fun. :conf:

Who else felt it?

Dave

Kool Kat · (This post was last modified: 08-24-2011, 06:19 AM by Kool Kat.)

Me! :eek1:

I was in my study at home (North Carolina)... when the floor shook and the windows raddled! :eek1: The quake startled my sleeping cat. It was enough vibration for me to get up and go outside to see what was happening!

My wife... visiting her mother in Virginia... also called and said they had both felt the tremor too!

Concerned for some friends who live just outside of Richmond, VA (quake epicenter). Left them a phone message and praying they are safe and have not suffered any damage. :(

Scary stuff indeed! :eek1:

**Big Ivan** · 08-24-2011, 11:02 AM,

Sorry to hear that Scud and KK, hope all is well with you and yours!! Hope there is no damage to your homes!!?

Never really been through a big shake.

Here in Mansfield, Ohio a couple of clicks of nick-nacks on the shelf, a small shake and life was back to normal.

As they say, guess distance from epicenter means everything.

Take care!

Ivan the Big:smoke:

Antoni Chmielowski · 08-24-2011, 12:09 PM,

Glad to hear your both OK,

It made the radio over here in the UK !

**Scud** · 08-24-2011, 01:13 PM,

All are well. Small quake as quakes go. The last one I felt was a 3 point something a few years ago. This was huge for the east coast. They're saying 5.8 now, not 5.9. Interesting reading about the differences between east and west coast (US) quakes, due to the soil. East coast can be felt much farther away from the epicenter.

Hope I never feel a big one.

Dave

Antoni Chmielowski · 08-24-2011, 01:21 PM,

You speak for us all Dave !

Herr Straße Laufer · 08-24-2011, 07:39 PM,

Rattled some plates and windows ... and made the dog's ears perk up. :eek1:

It felt like a quarry had set off a large detonation or a tractor trailer was rumbling out of control right outside the house.

cheers

HSL

Kool Kat · 08-24-2011, 08:18 PM,

(08-24-2011, 05:53 AM)Kool Kat Wrote: Concerned for some friends who live just outside of Richmond, VA (quake epicenter). Left them a phone message and praying they are safe and have not suffered any damage. :(

Scary stuff indeed! :eek1:

Update: Heard back from our friends near Richmond... and all is well with their family! Big Grin

Now, it's time to prepare for Hurricane Irene! :(

Rebel__ · 08-24-2011, 10:23 PM,

how does the goverment check all of it's infrastructure in a day or two after someething like this happens, all the miles of subway tracks and bridges, Would you trust a bridge the covers a large body of water, these a re questions here in New orleans we asked ourselves after Katrina..... I hope all goes well in the Northeast and now A Huricane as well might be heading to the Carolina's...

Kool Kat · 08-24-2011, 11:13 PM,

(08-24-2011, 10:23 PM)Rebel__ Wrote: how does the goverment check all of it's infrastructure in a day or two after someething like this happens, all the miles of subway tracks and bridges, Would you trust a bridge the covers a large body of water, these a re questions here in New orleans we asked ourselves after Katrina..... I hope all goes well in the Northeast and now A Huricane as well might be heading to the Carolina's...

In practical terms... the government (Federal and State) cannot check all infrastructure that quickly. :(

Here's an example of the sheer magnitude of checking and performing routine maintenance on infrastructure like bridges.

Look at one state example... North Carolina... where I live.

A quote from the NC Dept of Transportation Website:

"The NCDOT currently maintains 12,712 bridges across North Carolina, ranking our state as 13th in the nation for the highest number of state-maintained bridges."

The Website goes on to state that every bridge in NC is inspected "at least every two years."

That's nearly 13,000 bridges just in NC! :eek1: Multiple it by the number of eastern states impacted by the quake... and the numbers are staggering! :eek1:

So, what do you do? :dunno: