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Merged 5.9 Quake Hits Virginia

A disaster in DC? Clearly it was Bush's fault.

try the veal and don't forget to tip your waiter
 
Felt it in Chautauqua county, NY. I don't know what is more disturbing, the amount my house swayed (to be fair this house dates back to the late 1700's), of the fact that I just sat here wondering what that was.

[OT] I live just outside of Buffalo...but I've been to Falconer a bunch of times. I used to work on the Mayville side of the lake at the Boy Scout camp over there and spent a lot of time in Lakewood/Jamestown. It's nice to see people on here from the area. [/OT]

Anyway, being near Buffalo, I didn't feel it. But then, I work near a rock quarry and they do a lot of blasting...so I probably just ignored any strange vibrations anyway.
 
Felt it in Chautauqua county, NY. I don't know what is more disturbing, the amount my house swayed (to be fair this house dates back to the late 1700's), of the fact that I just sat here wondering what that was.

Some swaying can be good-- it means your house is flexing to absorb some of the rocking & rolling :) A totally static structure (like a brick house*) that doesn't sway is more likely to crack & crumble.

I live in a wooden 1-story house in an earthquake-prone region. When a really big quake hits, I fully expect my house to sway and fall off of its foundation, but hopefully won't collapse. My office (in a concrete building that isn't up to modern earthquake codes) will probably crumble and crush all of its occupants...

*Now I've got that song stuck in my head.
 
In our offices, it sounded like someone was pounding a wall, as if pounding in a nail to hang a picture or something. (So far, nobody knows what that noise actually was; some thought it was coming from workers on the roof.) I heard that noise before I realized that the floor was wobbling. The wobbling lasted about thirty seconds by my estimation, but others thought it continued for minutes after I'd thought it had stopped.

I went to the window to see if there was any visible damage or smoke around the city. I saw none. Nearby brick smokestacks were standing just as before. (I understand the earthquake was felt up in Sudbury, where they have a smokestack that is almost as tall as the Empire State Building.)

Looked for the return of Jesus. Didn't see him.
 
In our offices, it sounded like someone was pounding a wall, as if pounding in a nail to hang a picture or something. (So far, nobody knows what that noise actually was; some thought it was coming from workers on the roof.) I heard that noise before I realized that the floor was wobbling. The wobbling lasted about thirty seconds by my estimation, but others thought it continued for minutes after I'd thought it had stopped.

I went to the window to see if there was any visible damage or smoke around the city. I saw none. Nearby brick smokestacks were standing just as before. (I understand the earthquake was felt up in Sudbury, where they have a smokestack that is almost as tall as the Empire State Building.)

Looked for the return of Jesus. Didn't see him.

He was pounding on the door asking to be let in, but walked away in a huff when you ignored the noise.
 
At my work, management decided that for our safety we'd better evacuate the building ten minutes after it hit. Then someone managed to trip in the parking lot and knock herself unconscious. Safety accomplished, we went back in to work. If by "work" you mean "text everybody you know 'OMG I wuz in earthquake OMG LOL!!!!' "
 
What would cause an earthquake on the east coast?

Intraplate earthquakes can occur on ancient fault lines, many of which are scattered across the east coast and midwest. This one might have been on a failed rift zone, where the crust started to pull apart millions of years ago when the Atlantic Ocean was formed.
 
Some swaying can be good-- it means your house is flexing to absorb some of the rocking & rolling :) A totally static structure (like a brick house*) that doesn't sway is more likely to crack & crumble.

I live in a wooden 1-story house in an earthquake-prone region. When a really big quake hits, I fully expect my house to sway and fall off of its foundation, but hopefully won't collapse. My office (in a concrete building that isn't up to modern earthquake codes) will probably crumble and crush all of its occupants...

*Now I've got that song stuck in my head.

Me too. Thanks a lot. :D
 
I note there appears to be a man-made lake near the epicenter, which indicates a natural rift in the landscape.
 
Felt it in Chautauqua county, NY. I don't know what is more disturbing, the amount my house swayed (to be fair this house dates back to the late 1700's), of the fact that I just sat here wondering what that was.

A single story wood building can sway (at the roof line) several inches or more without incurring any damage to the structure. You will probably find cracks in any finishing surface (paint, tile, etc) attached to the walls with that much sway, however.
 
What would cause an earthquake on the east coast?
It's not all that unusual:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/blogs/the_angle/2011/08/east_coast_eart.html

The most dangerous fault line in North America is located around New Madrid, Missouri, and runs in a T shape across parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. There were a series of major earthquakes in this area that occurred in the winter of 1811-12 and ranged between 8 and 8.9 on the Richter scale. The tremors were so great that the Mississippi River flowed backwards and people screamed in terror in the streets of New York.
 

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