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

[QM1to6Ave]

I was at my hospital job when the alert came over the disaster intranet system. No one could have cared less. No alarms, no evacuations, nothing. Wouldn't have even known it had happened. Of course the news stations are wetting their pants over this.

[Nova RTS 9147]

The only thing I felt was the waves of people on my facebook page and at my job talking about that earthquake.

[alejr88]

Lol.

 

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

 

I did not feel a thing either and I was just walking home.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

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......

 

That's because you didn't feel it. I did feel it and I thought they were doing construction downstairs below me... In fact I was the only one in my office who felt it and they didn't know anything until I left the building to go to lunch and it was confirmed for me when I went downstairs and put the pieces together w/folks in the lobby, etc. Then I called up and told them. Not only that but many people felt dizzy (including me) even when I was sitting down in my office. I was thinking it was because I hadn't eaten anything yet. The fact that it covered such a large area is what was amazing to me. Nothing was shaking on my wall, but the level of shaking that I felt I'm surprised that it was just a 5.8. The thing is though no one knew how to react because it isn't something that we're supposed to get here and in my case our floor has shook before because of construction, though not to that degree.

[B35 via Church]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/16/new-york-city-is-overdue-_n_824106.html

 

^^ looks like this cat was right

 

 

That's because you didn't feel it.

perhaps....

 

....but regardless, it's still being overblown by the news media..... I don't remember the little jolt we got back in '89 (I think it was) being covered this much, this hard, in one day.... I agree w/ shortline, it aint too much that's headline worthy right now (outside of talkin bout khadafi), so they goin go hard in the paint in coverin this quake.....

 

 

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 3:30pm.

Exactly the way I feel... you'd have thought it was 9-11 all over again....

[alejr88]

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.

 

Remember the terrible earthquake in Haiti? I was on vacation at the Dominican Republic that time and one afternoon at a relative's house, me and the fam see everything shaking and realize that it is an earthquake so we all had to evacuate out of the home. Man that was really strong, there was a lightpole above and it sure looked like it was going to fall. The movement lasted for nearly 30 seconds.:confused:

[Shortline Bus]

Buddy (Via Garbaldi) thankfully even in our region we call home (Northeast US)it shows that the safety codes even in our older buldiings was good and held up in a 'moderate' quake :tup:. Even with fact, some buliding in metro NYC are over 100 years-plus old. Still IMO no doubt, some people will now got nuts and demand Calif-type protection for bulidings in NYC after this 'moderate' quake. Which of course is going to be hard while we still in middle of the global mega recession.On your point (Garbadi) about whether the quake yesterday was really a '5.8?' On many news blogs this morning i read, many people are already also disputing that score and thus, they are claiming, the quake was as a high as a 6.0-6.2 on the ricther scale.

 

And my last point on the tv coverage. The local 'over the air' stations i.e Ch.2, 4, 5/9 and 7 had every right to 'bump' 'One life to Live' the court shows or w/e was on in the 2pm hour when the quake hit. My point which i agree with (B35) is that by around 330pm at end of the Mayor's press conference on it, that when the local stations should have went back to their regular shows.

There a reason local cable news stations like "NY1" and News12' are on the air for 24/7, to report breaking news situations like what happened yesterday:confused:.

 

All of the local 'nyc' tv news stations & even the national cable news channels i.e CNN,Fox News and MSNBC for a while, were covering this like '9/11' or the Christmas 2010 Blizzard which this quake was not. And my comments are coming from someone that is a news junkie.:cool:

 

 

 

The fact that it covered such a large area is what was amazing to me. Nothing was shaking on my wall, but the level of shaking that I felt I'm surprised that it was just a 5.8. The thing is though no one knew how to react because it isn't something that we're supposed to get here and in my case our floor has shook before because of construction, though not to that degree.

[St Louis Car 09]

Me and my wife didn't feel anything.Oddly enough Downtown Stamford reported it and thats a 15 minute walk from here.I tried to put together how we didnt feel it,then it made sense.On the west side where I live sits at one of the highest points of the town and downtown is below the hill,but if that earthquake was a little bit more shallow,then we would have felt it here.

 

I caught wind of it as some of my Facebook friends reported that the felt shaking in Philly.Then oddly enough friends in Brooklyn and the Bronx felt it too.Then I looked on google and the answers were there.The media is blowing it way outta proportion though.

[Kendell]

This is not good!

My aunt is crying like a baby because of the earthquake!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/16/new-york-city-is-overdue-_n_824106.html

 

^^ looks like this cat was right

 

 

 

perhaps....

 

....but regardless, it's still being overblown by the news media..... I don't remember the little jolt we got back in '89 (I think it was) being covered this much, this hard, in one day.... I agree w/ shortline, it aint too much that's headline worthy right now (outside of talkin bout khadafi), so they goin go hard in the paint in coverin this quake.....

 

 

 

Exactly the way I feel... you'd have thought it was 9-11 all over again....

 

Yeah, but you can't compare 2011 to back then. We didn't have people killing Americans on American soil and blowing up American buildings, so people naturally are going to be on edge. I have been near two terror events, here on 9/11 and then in Europe back in 2004 when the bombings in Spain occurred and Europe was a mess at that time, including Italy which was also considered to be at risk. As far as the media blowing it out of proportion, I think the real focus should be on how unprepared we are for these things. I know we don't get them that often and that's exactly why there should be more coverage as to how to prepare for them because the thinking is that we don't get them here so we have nothing to worry about, but Mother Nature could care less about that.

[KTrainExp]

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.

 

That's not the first thing that hit my mind, but is there a problem with associating the shake with a terrorist attack? It's not being superstitious, but a legitimate concern. Keep in mind that we live in New York City, and those crackheads over there have sights on us as their primary target.

 

Nope I don't feel like the news media is emphasizing this too much. When's the last time you felt an earthquake of this magnitude in the city. I've never felt my apartment shake, so it is a pretty big deal not only for me but for most New Yorkers as well.

[553 Bridgeton]

Lets just hope this doesnt lead up to some once in a million year great earthquake. Heard on the radio philly got hit with a aftershock today.

[Shortline Bus]

That's not the first thing that hit my mind, but is there a problem with associating the shake with a terrorist attack? It's not being superstitious, but a legitimate concern. Keep in mind that we live in New York City, and those crackheads over there have sights on us as their primary target.

 

Nope I don't feel like the news media is emphasizing this too much. When's the last time you felt an earthquake of this magnitude in the city. I've never felt my apartment shake, so it is a pretty big deal not only for me but for most New Yorkers as well.

 

What (B35), 553 and myself are saying train is that this was a big news story. Thus the local NYC stations had every right to break into programming at 2pm to provide breaking news coverage of the 'quake'. What I at least this disagree with though, is the fact, the local stations did not have to stay on the air, all late afternoon/early evening i.e 7pm to cover it though.

Basically after the Mayor's press conference ended at around 4pm, IMO at least since no one was hurt/killed & most important nothing to add, that when the stations i.e Ch.2, 4, 5, 7 and 9 should have gone back to their regular shows at 4pm.

 

If this was say during the Christmas weekend blizzard from last Dec. in which the city was basically 'shut down' then they should go ahead with special reports and preempt shows.

 

And on Garbaldi point, there plenty of time during local newscasts where 'special reports' on being prepared for an earthquake can occur.

 

FYI. I was away but i heard the local stations did not provide 'live' breaking news coverage until Sunday evening 12/26 since most of the news crew was off for the holiday and a blizzard warning was not declared until early that afternoon.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

What (B35), 553 and myself are saying train is that this was a big news story. Thus the local NYC stations had every right to break into programming at 2pm to provide breaking news coverage of the 'quake'. What I at least this disagree with though, is the fact, the local stations did not have to stay on the air, all late afternoon/early evening i.e 7pm to cover it though.

Basically after the Mayor's press conference ended at around 4pm, IMO at least since no one was hurt/killed & most important nothing to add, that when the stations i.e Ch.2, 4, 5, 7 and 9 should have gone back to their regular shows at 4pm.

 

If this was say during the Christmas weekend blizzard from last Dec. in which the city was basically 'shut down' then they should go ahead with special reports and preempt shows.

 

And on Garbaldi point, there plenty of time during local newscasts where 'special reports' on being prepared for an earthquake can occur.

 

FYI. I was away but i heard the local stations did not provide 'live' breaking news coverage until Sunday evening 12/26 since most of the news crew was off for the holiday and a blizzard warning was not declared until early that afternoon.

 

I still disagree... Quite frankly many people didn't even know an earthquake hit AND we had no idea if there would be aftershocks, so they should've been on the air letting folks know that all was okay and what the latest was. Those who didn't feel it would say it was no big deal, but I felt it and many people became dizzy from it and we had no idea what was going on here in Midtown. I went to Grand Central for lunch bracing for aftershocks once it I found out that it was indeed an earthquale and all I heard while eating at La Fonda del Sol were sirens flying down Vanderbilt. At least the Spanish restaurant I was in was nice enough to turn from ESPN to CNN so we could have an update as to what was going on. Many people were scared and simply left early because they didn't know what was going on. Some thought it was a terrorist bomb, but I wasn't that naïve. Being updated was very re-assuring.

 

The last crazy episode I experienced was a few years back when we had that explosion here in Midtown with the steam. I was actually on the X30 when it happened and we were turning onto 42nd from 5th and we could see smoke filling 42nd street like crazy. People were hauling @ss towards the Port Authority because they didn't know what was going on and we were stuck in traffic, which was pretty nerve wrecking. Had the express bus stayed there for a while, I was considering getting off and trying to make my way out of Manhattan, which was my first thought... Just get the hell out of the city. It wasn't until I got home that I found out what happened.

[Shortline Bus]

No offense but there always thousands of new yorkers no matter the story whether '9/11', 2 feet of snow from a blizzard like last year's, 'X-Mas weekend', or this 'quake' that will never pay attention to the news. And again if there was massive # of casulties/even deaths and destruction after the quake, just like '9/11' then of course, the stations would be dummies not to stay on

the air.

 

Thus that why you have local cable news NY1 or News 12 to provide wall-wall coverage of the aftermath of the quake. Or if a person does not have cable there now '3' all newsradio stations i.e 1010 Wins, 880AM and 101.9FM.

So just have to agree to disagree.:eek:

 

 

I still disagree... Quite frankly many people didn't even know an earthquake hit AND we had no idea if there would be aftershocks, so they should've been on the air letting folks know that all was okay and what the latest was. Those who didn't feel it would say it was no big deal, but I felt it and many people became dizzy from it and we had no idea what was going on here in Midtown. I went to Grand Central for lunch bracing for aftershocks once it I found out that it was indeed an earthquale and all I heard while eating at La Fonda del Sol were sirens flying down Vanderbilt. At least the Spanish restaurant I was in was nice enough to turn from ESPN to CNN so we could have an update as to what was going on. Many people were scared and simply left early because they didn't know what was going on. Some thought it was a terrorist bomb, but I wasn't that naïve. Being updated was very re-assuring.

 

The last crazy episode I experienced was a few years back when we had that explosion here in Midtown with the steam. I was actually on the X30 when it happened and we were turning onto 42nd from 5th and we could see smoke filling 42nd street like crazy. People were hauling @ss towards the Port Authority because they didn't know what was going on and we were stuck in traffic, which was pretty nerve wrecking. Had the express bus stayed there for a while, I was considering getting off and trying to make my way out of Manhattan, which was my first thought... Just get the hell out of the city. It wasn't until I got home that I found out what happened.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

No offense but there always thousands of new yorkers no matter the story whether '9/11', 2 feet of snow from a blizzard like last year's, 'X-Mas weekend', or this 'quake' that will never pay attention to the news. And again if there was massive # of casulties/even deaths and destruction after the quake, just like '9/11' then of course, the stations would be dummies not to stay on

the air.

 

Thus that why you have local cable news NY1 or News 12 to provide wall-wall coverage of the aftermath of the quake. Or if a person does not have cable there now '3' all newsradio stations i.e 1010 Wins, 880AM and 101.9FM.

So just have to agree to disagree.:eek:

 

Oh please... That's a ridiculous statement. Whether or not there are casualties is immaterial. The fact of the matter is people didn't know what in the hell happened and it was reassuring to know that it was indeed an earthquake rather than something far more sinister. We also didn't know if there would be aftershocks. Aside from that this hit several states in the U.S. and was felt as far as Toronto in Canada.

 

Who is supposed to be running home to watch cable when this happened shortly before 14:00 in the afternoon? Most offices do not have cable so that is not a feasible solution. You can call me stubborn or whatever, but like I said, I was here when the friggin thing hit and I felt it but didn't know that it was an earthquake, so it was good to have access to TV and to be able to find out what exactly happened. Kudos to the news networks for doing their jobs. Who cares about soap operas when the friggin ground is shaking??

[553 Bridgeton]

I cant believe you 2 are getting into a heated battle over a natural phenomenon .

 

The fact whether people knew it happened or not, IT HAPPENED!

 

Now im going to go pop some corn, in the words of Trainmaster5; carry on.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I cant believe you 2 are getting into a heated battle over a natural phenomenon .

 

The fact whether people knew it happened or not, IT HAPPENED!

 

Now im going to go pop some corn, in the words of Trainmaster5; carry on.

 

Well the way I see it for those who did feel it and felt uneasy it was right for the news stations to give updates, this way at least some people knew what in the hell was going on.

[R68 Subway Car]

Sorry to be rude, but the local channels have to cover it. This was a huge and rare situation, much like 9/11 and the blizzard of 2010. This effected everyone. As of this post, I am still feeling aftershocks in my house.

[checkmatechamp13]

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.

 

Since it's a subway station, I would've thought it was just a work train passing by or something (if I were in the station).

 

What (B35), 553 and myself are saying train is that this was a big news story. Thus the local NYC stations had every right to break into programming at 2pm to provide breaking news coverage of the 'quake'. What I at least this disagree with though, is the fact, the local stations did not have to stay on the air, all late afternoon/early evening i.e 7pm to cover it though.

Basically after the Mayor's press conference ended at around 4pm, IMO at least since no one was hurt/killed & most important nothing to add, that when the stations i.e Ch.2, 4, 5, 7 and 9 should have gone back to their regular shows at 4pm.

 

If this was say during the Christmas weekend blizzard from last Dec. in which the city was basically 'shut down' then they should go ahead with special reports and preempt shows.

 

And on Garbaldi point, there plenty of time during local newscasts where 'special reports' on being prepared for an earthquake can occur.

 

FYI. I was away but i heard the local stations did not provide 'live' breaking news coverage until Sunday evening 12/26 since most of the news crew was off for the holiday and a blizzard warning was not declared until early that afternoon.

 

I don't think Channel 7 was covering it at 19:00. I remember watching Jeopardy, which is normally scheduled at that time.

 

Sorry to be rude, but the local channels have to cover it. This was a huge and rare situation, much like 9/11 and the blizzard of 2010. This effected everyone. As of this post, I am still feeling aftershocks in my house.

 

You must be really sensitive to feel those aftershocks. Many people barely felt the original earthquake.

 

I wonder if those are actual aftershocks or some type of hallucination.

[Shortline Bus]

Here an intresting article from Daily News TV/Entertainment Editor Richard Hoff with his analysis/commentary about the local NYC tv news coverage after the quake.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2011/08/24/2011-08-24_local_new_york_news_stations_hustle_to_cover_reports_on_the_virginia_earthquake_.html

[B35 via Church]

Yeah, but you can't compare 2011 to back then. We didn't have people killing Americans on American soil and blowing up American buildings, so people naturally are going to be on edge. I have been near two terror events, here on 9/11 and then in Europe back in 2004 when the bombings in Spain occurred and Europe was a mess at that time, including Italy which was also considered to be at risk.

whoa whoa whoa.... what's with the strawman argument here..... you grossly took that post of mine out of context to elaborate on something no one's disputing.... Who the hell was comparing the actual ACTS of 9/11 to yesterday's quake....

 

Did you see the afternoon news coverage yesterday the earthquake got?

It WAS being covered in the same manner that 9/11 did.....

 

COVERED....

 

Not saying 9/11 itself was similar to the earthquake... my god.....

 

 

 

Well the way I see it for those who did feel it and felt uneasy it was right for the news stations to give updates, this way at least some people knew what in the hell was going on.

Of course....

 

No one's sayin that the earthquake shouldn't have gotten NO coverage.....

[Via Garibaldi 8]

whoa whoa whoa.... what's with the strawman argument here..... you grossly took that post of mine out of context to elaborate on something no one's disputing.... Who the hell was comparing the actual ACTS of 9/11 to yesterday's quake....

 

Did you see the afternoon news coverage yesterday the earthquake got?

It WAS being covered in the same manner that 9/11 did.....

 

COVERED....

 

Not saying 9/11 itself was similar to the earthquake... my god.....

 

I didn't say you did. You made a comparison to an earthquake that happened back in the 80s talking about how it didn't get that much coverage compared to the one that took place yesterday, and my point was that you can't compare the reaction to a quake that far back because we are living in different times now, in the post 9/11 world. Anything that happens now will be put under the microscope and people will think it is a terrorist attack whether we like it or not.

 

 

 

Of course....

 

No one's sayin that the earthquake shouldn't have gotten NO coverage.....

 

 

Yeah I know, but you and Shortline are saying that there was too much coverage and I disagree. Perhaps since you and him were at home I assume where you had access to the news it was overkill, but for those of us that weren't near tvs it was good to know what was going on.

[B35 via Church]

I didn't say you did. You made a comparison to an earthquake that happened back in the 80s talking about how it didn't get that much coverage compared to the one that took place yesterday, and my point was that you can't compare the reaction to a quake that far back because we are living in different times now, in the post 9/11 world. Anything that happens now will be put under the microscope and people will think it is a terrorist attack whether we like it or not.

 

Obviously we're living in different times....

But sure you can compare ppl's reactions & the coverages; an earthquake is an earthquake....

 

If it was really truly about my comment about the small quake back in the late 80's..... you would have never went off in a totally 'nother direction talkin about how we didn't have people killing americans, and what you experienced in Europe in '04 w/ the bombings, yada yada yada.... that was an attempt to illustrate to me that 9/11 pales in comparison to the earthquake we got yesterday....

 

you were referring to where I said:

you'd have thought it was 9/11 all over again....

 

...and you know it.

 

 

 

Yeah I know, but you and Shortline are saying that there was too much coverage and I disagree. Perhaps since you and him were at home I assume where you had access to the news it was overkill, but for those of us that weren't near tvs it was good to know what was going on.

So you disagree, and that's fine.....

 

All I'm sayin is.... If you weren't near a television @ that time or w/e, how would you know if it were overkill or not....

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Obviously we're living in different times....

But sure you can compare ppl's reactions & the coverages; an earthquake is an earthquake....

 

If it was really truly about my comment about the small quake back in the late 80's..... you would have never went off in a totally 'nother direction talkin about how we didn't have people killing americans, and what you experienced in Europe in '04 w/ the bombings, yada yada yada.... that was an attempt to illustrate to me that 9/11 pales in comparison to the earthquake we got yesterday....

 

you were referring to where I said:

you'd have thought it was 9/11 all over again....

 

...and you know it.

 

No I wasn't. My point was that people are on edge now over any little thing, particularly because of 9/11 and therefore things like this will be blown out of proportion.

 

 

 

So you disagree, and that's fine.....

 

All I'm sayin is.... If you weren't near a television @ that time or w/e, how would you know if it were overkill or not....

 

My point was that for those of us who had limited access to a tv, if the news coverage was overkill as you and Shortline claimed it was, probably since you were at home, we appreciated it because it clarified what in the hell was going on at the time. You were at home relaxing or whatever and meanwhile I'm in Midtown and am hearing nothing but sirens and seeing people standing around everywhere looking panicked. Believe me, overkill or not, if you were in that situation you would've appreciated the coverage and that was my point.