5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Virginia, shaking felt in New York; White House, Pentagon evacuated

[Harry]

An earthquake centered 340 miles south of New York set buildings swaying in the city - the first major quake to hit New York in years.

 

The government estimated the initial magnitude at 5.9 on the Richter Scale with the epicenter located near Richmond, Va.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/08/23/2011-08-23_58_magnitude_earthquake_strikes_virginia_shaking_felt_in_new_york_city.html#ixzz1VsgiDjDs

[Dave160]

I had just gotten home and I'm on the sofa and I see the door start to move and creak, thinking it was the wind. Then I see the fish tank start to shake and then the house is shaking... and then it was done. I thought I had gotten lightheaded tho first for whatever reason.

 

What's sad though is how many people initially thought that a bomb went off... that's like the last thing that hit my mind.

[Roadcruiser1]

Comment deleted.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

It's funny because I was the only in my office to feel it and I'm the fire warden for my office. I was sitting in my office and I felt my chair shaking, but I thought it was coming from downstairs because we had construction above us when they were redoing offices up there. I said to myself, what in the hell are these people doing down there? :mad:

 

Then I went out to the lobby, got in the elevator and went to the first floor and I see a sh*t load of people downstairs and outside too and then I hear people saying that it was indeed an earthquake. I called back to the office to let them know and then went to my Spanish spot in Grand Central for lunch. :cool:

 

I also felt a bit dizzy for a brief period while sitting down, but I thought it was just me since I hadn't eaten anything yet.

 

This is the second earthquake I've been in though... The first one was back in college. I was on the 10th floor in one of the tallest buildings on campus nonetheless and it's like 06:00 in the morning on a Saturday and I stumble out of bed in a t-shirt and boxers to take a piss in the bathroom and I see my next door neighbor who was Japanese standing in his doorway looking startled. He didn't speak much English, and I was too half asleep to even bother asking him what he was doing there, so I did my do and went back to sleep. I woke up around 10:00 and my Dominican roomate told me that we had an earthquake. I suppose I did feel the shaking but I was too half asleep to even realize it. Downtown though people said that stuff was falling off of the walls and such.

[553 Bridgeton]

I had just walked off my bus(7187) and i started walkin and everything was moving. It lasted for like 25 seconds. They evacuated casinos. Lost my cell signal and just got it back.

[engineerboy6561]

I had no clue what was going on, but there's no way a shockwave from a bomb would produce the same kind of swaying motion as an earthquake. I was just sitting on my bed leaning against the wall when it hit, and all of a sudden I can feel the wall swaying back and forth while my bed's moving a whole lot slower. The best thing I can compare it to is being on a boat. My mom, however, lived in Utah for a while and knew exactly what was going on.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I had just walked off my bus(7187) and i started walkin and everything was moving. It lasted for like 25 seconds. They evacuated casinos. Lost my cell signal and just got it back.

 

You're the first one that I know that felt it in New Jersey. I talked to a colleague of mine who lives in New Jersey via e-mail and she didn't know about it until I told her.

[Roadcruiser1]

With Hurricane Irene threatening NYC, and the earthquake recently I can't stop playing the song "It's The End of The World As We Know It", because of the beginning lyrics "That's great it starts with an earthquake, birds, and snakes, and an airplane, Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane listen to yourself churn, world serves it's own needs doesn't serve your own needs", and etc.

 

 

 

Edit: I found the irony in the song. NYC is the center of the stock market, and the greedy shareholders that only think about themselves.

[SoSpectacular]

I was helping my mom look for something and suddenly felt the ground AND house shaking

[GojiMet86]

I didn't feel anything, but my brother did. Said the bed shaked a bit.

[CTK246]

The first major quake to hit New York in years?

 

It shook very light for about 5 seconds.

[Amtrak7]

Took the LIRR to Jamaica, found an employee closing the station waiting room. I asked why, since Jamaica is supposed to be open 24/7. He said "there's an earthquake in DC". Got on a 165-bound Q9, then got stuck in the Jamaica Ave road closure. Driver let me off at 150th, police told everyone to go to the little park and that buildings were being evacuated, then I walked the rest of the way to 165. Hillside Av seemed normal.

[R68 Subway Car]

I was in my basement watching the news and surfing the internet and I have a very powerful little fan down here. As I was doing that, I just felt a vibration and I assumed it was the fan and that I was leaning my chair against my adjacent treadmill. Then I turned around and saw my wall mounted TV and my radio (which is mounted on a stand) shake and then I bolted out of my basement. Thankfully me and my mom are alright. I am still feeling tremors to this hour! :eek:

[SIR North Shore]

I was on the 1:30pm ferry to Staten Island when this happened! The 1:30 was running very late today and didn't leave until 1:45pm. The boat was the John F Kennedy so I didn't feel anything at all but there was some commotion on the bus ramps about an earthquake but most people including myself didn't even notice it.

[Dan05979]

Thank God someone started this thread not shortline bus. As soon as I heard it happen I was upstate in poughkeepsie and all I can think of is this fool tripping over his socks running to the keyboard to be the first one to post this thread.

[7LineFan]

I was at the US Open today eating lunch when it happened. The table I was at just started shaking. I thought it was the wind at first but then I saw signs in places where the wind shouldn't touch swaying as well. Lasted for a good half a minute.

[4P3607]

While this was happenening, I caught 8085 on the Q88 :eek:

I actually didn't feel the quake, I was walking on the sidewalk while it happened.

I know my dad was in my apartment at the time and he said the whole building was swaying for about 30 Min.

[Shortline Bus]

Guys here the CNN news clip with Chief Anchor Wolf Blizter at his DC office, just right after it happened at around 210pm ET.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfTxpxXaf1A

[metsfan]

My girlfriend and i were in her car, we didn't feel it. Cell signal was disrupted quite a bit, and lots of other people either saw lights flicker or felt it, my friend of many years called me from near baltimore & she said she had to pick up things off the floor etc that had fallen over and off of shelves.

 

Later on i actually heard my house make funny noises and felt a very subtle swaying motion to the ground, we live on clay so i'm sure that had some effect. Apparently there have been a few aftershocks, i guess that was one of them.

 

I also felt quite odd at the time of the quake or just a bit after, light headed. I believe infrasound (frequencies you can feel but not hear) can do that.

 

I'm glad there were no real issues, but now we have this hurricane to contend with over the weekend.

 

- A

[B35 via Church]

Here in E. Flatbush, nope, aint feel nothin....

(took today & tomorrow off....)

 

 

Anyone else feel the earthquake coverage is being overblown just a bit...

I mean, yeah it's rare we get em... but w/ the news coverage, you'd have thought we caught 10 on the Richt'(er) or somethin......

[Shortline Bus]

Here in E. Flatbush, nope, aint feel nothin....

(took today & tomorrow off....)

 

 

Anyone else feel the earthquake coverage is being overblown just a bit...

I mean, yeah it's rare we get em... but w/ the news coverage, you'd have thought we caught 10 on the Richt'(er) or somethin......

 

 

Agree bro. No doubt, a 5.8 or w/e on richter is nothing to sneeze at.(pardon phrase)

Other than the almost certain 'overthrow' of governments in Libya and the Strauss-Kahn case being thrown out, closer to home, it been a slow news period for last couple of weeks. It's not like our region got smacked with say 2 feet of snow.:eek:

 

I was busy today with staff meetings in morning for school year starting here in 10 days & dentist appointment late this afternoon. Even though i was home at around 2pm when the first reports of this 'quake' occurred I did not feel anything either. Even at the dentist office at around 4pm, all of the local NYC channels(except for i think Ch.11)had cut off programming.

 

Was this 'quake' enough to warrant coverage IMO? Hell yes. However by 4pm when it seemed that no one was killed or seriously injured in NYC area, the local stations should have went back to programming by 33opm. There a reason NY1 and News12 are around for extended coverage like this.

[IRT Bronx Express]

Thank God someone started this thread

Lol.

 

Anyways, I was at St. Barnabas Hospital when this happened, and I felt nothing at all. :eek:

[Shortline Bus]

PS Guys has any of you experience an earthquake besides this 'moderate' one yesterday 8/23/11?

 

I did experience one in San Diego about 10 years back. It was about a 4-4.5 while visiting my sister.

[Roadcruiser1]

I am more fearful of Hurricane Irene at present then any earthquake that struck hours ago.

[2 Train Master]

I was sitting on my bed at home in the Bronx eating lunch and I was chatting with friends via facebook and my bed was shaking for at least 30 sec I got up was nervous b\c I thought my bed would give way(just got a bed set and mattress this past May) and a few min later my friend told me that her house shook and we discussed the feeling of that quake.It was a scary moment to me b\c it was pretty damn strong to shake buildings.

 

Another encounter with earthquakes/aftershock I remember a few months ago or maybe even a year ago there was an earthquake in Canada that was felt all the way to the Carolinas and I remember me and a friend were at DeKalb sta on the ( or train and we were being held and we felt a shake later to find out it was an earthquake.