Tuesday, August 23, 2011

5.9 Earthquake Rocks East Coast


Posted by: Noël Jones

Being that I'm from Alaska, I grew up with frequent earthquakes, as well as the lore of my parents' generation, who were around for the Great Alaskan Earthquake of '64, which was 9.2 on the richter scale--the largest quake ever recorded in North America, and the second
largest in the history of the world. It ripped streets and buildings apart within four minutes. It opened chasms that swallowed people and slammed shut. The resulting tidal wave left boats suspended in treetops. In one area of Anchorage,  the land dropped to such a degree that the top of the marquee in the parking lot of the movie theater ended up level with the rest of the parking lot. I grew up trained from toddlerhood on what to do when a quake hits, in case it's another big one. One of my earliest childhood memories is from when I was about four years old. I was sleeping, and thought I felt my mom shaking me vigorously to wake me up, but when I opened my eyes, my mom wasn't there, and the whole bed and room were shaking, and then suddenly she ran into the room yelling for me to get up and that we had to get out of the house. I stood outside in my nightgown and bare feet (it was summer) waiting for aftershocks with my mom and my little brother until we were sure it was over.

As a result of growing up with frequent earthquakes in my life, my first thought is always of a quake when I feel a building or the ground shake, but it's usually just a a big truck rumbling by. Today around 2pm, I had a similar thought--I was in my living room, on the sofa and felt what seemed like the ground under the house moving, and it made my stomach feel funny for a second. I thought, "Eathquake?" followed by, "Oh, Noël, stop thinking every time you feel the ground move that it's an earthquake, it's probably just a big truck." Then a few minutes later, I got a text from a friend in Brooklyn, saying, "did you feel the quake?" And it turns out, it was a 5.9 on the richter scale with an epicenter near Richmond,
Virginia. The quake shook Washington vigorously enough that they evacuated the Pentagon and other government buildings. It knocked out most communications, and put the North Anna nuclear power plant on a low state of emergency because they lost power there. Now they are waiting to see if there will be large aftershocks, like the ones in Japan earlier this year, which was a 6.4 on the richter scale. Keep in mind though, that each full point on the richter scale is 10 times stronger than the one before, so the Japan quake was five times stronger than this quake.

I lived in New York for 13 years, and occasionally trembled at the idea of what would happen if an earthquake ever hit that city. I used to have dreams about it when I lived there. But everyone reassured me that New York never has earthquakes, and that it's built on bedrock (unlike Anchorage, much of which is built on clay). I hope they're right. But it scares me that Manhattan is built over seven fault lines, and is long overdue for a major quake. A lot of skyscrapers have been built in recent decades. Most are "earthquake-proof" but I've always felt that to be an arrogant term. I temped in an earthquake-proof building in Manhattan years ago, that swayed even in heavy winds. Sometimes the elevators would grind to a stop on the way up, waiting for the building to flex back to continue. I would get queasy in the office, and I don't even have a light stomach. When the leftovers of Hurricain Floyd hit Manhattan, my chair rolled two inches. Several buildings in New York were evacuated today.

The quake today will likely cause a lot of structural damage in our capitol. They are already reporting that a water main broke at the Pentagon. This is one of the dangers--aside from the initial dangers of people being crushed or hit by falling objects and glass in a big quake--water and gas mains can break, fires can break out, as happened in Japan. Hopefully the North Anna nuclear plant didn't sustain any structural damage.

I will be posting updates in the comments. Did you feel the quake today?

33 comments:

tunsie said...

we felt nothing at our place as our building is 300 years old.R U OK..i dont want nothing to happen to my favouritist Noel Marie....tunsie

hell0kitty said...

i was putting clothes away at my dresser and felt the dresser shaking in an unusual way and got a quick dizzy spell. it wasn't the kind of street shaking from the ghetto blasters either. so surreal!

Anonymous said...

I live close to West Va./Va border in Narrows Va. 24124 and we felt it. Nothing swayed or shook but it made us fill like we were having a body twich/spass.

Untouched Takeaway said...

I am at the office in Morristown, NJ (4th floor office)

At first, I thought someone was pushing a cart off of the freight elevator. Then the coat hanger on my office door coat hook started swinging - hard. The floor rolled for a good 10 seconds (4th floor here).

We're all still a bit rattled here; in San Francisco, I hear they call this kind of thing "Tuesday" :D

UT

Anonymous said...

Lets have an earthquake parade!!!!!

david said...

Okay, for anyone who hasn't gone there yet...
www.ready.gov the federal governments emergency and preparation website. And it oddly is quite good. It's a nice big chunk of free preparedness info from true professionals . I've checked the site for bad info (and I do have a damned good idea of what I'm looking at) and it is top notch.
If you absolutely must by a book i recommend- "The complete idiots guide to Disaster preparedness"
It's a great easy to follow guide by a Dr. and other professionals who don't go ranting on about zombies and stockpiling guns. But instead present clear rules and guidelines for personal preparedness, business preparedness, data recovery and such .
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Disaster-Preparedness/dp/1592578934/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1314129073&sr=8-4

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying head for the hills...but valid non-nut job resources can be a bit hard to find and honest sane preparedness is just a good idea.
Thanks,
David

noel jones said...

Anon 3:47, thanks for posting from closer to the center of the quake--if there are any readers in the VA/DC area (that haven't lost their internet access--I know that a lot of communications are down right now, according to CNN)--please post and let us know what it was like for you!

The video is starting to come in, and in NYC the DA was about to make a press conference announcement about the Strauss-Kahn case, and then the building started shaking and they hurriedly left the room. They looked really worried, and I'm sorry to say, but having lived there through 9/11, most people's first thought in a disaster (i.e., this quake, or the blackout a few years back) is terrorism. Quakes felt in NYC are rare, and CNN is saying that a quake of this size hasn't hit the East Coast since the 1800s.

It's scary when you think of how many tall buildings we've built since then...

noel jones said...

UT--so true!

noel jones said...

david--thanks for the link!

noel jones said...

Bloomberg is giving a press conference in NYC now--no apparent damage--subways and trains were shut down for a while but are now back to norma all is well so far and they are checking for damage to any water or gas mains.

Now he's speaking Spanish! Whoa--I didn't know he could speak it--his accent is hilarious, but it's still pretty cool...

tunsie said...

Honey...sweetheart...We as a country bo not need FRACKING for energy.these bastards are digging deep into the earth for gas.and they are disrupting the rock formations in an attempt to get to gas...we have enough sun light falling on the face of our country...and we have wind...we also have waterfalls.a nice one in easton,but dont get me started,because I'll go 2 city council meeting and yell about why we r not harnassing powere at that lehigh-delaware intersection...I yuv U baby tunsie

noel jones said...

tunsie--best reason to rant, ever!

two things:

1. this quake was natural and not caused by fracking because fracking is not taking place in Richmond, VA that i know of--HOWEVER.

2. drillers had to call a halt to their drilling in Arkansas a while back because all the activity was causing hundreds of smaller quakes in the area

tunsie said...

is fracking occuring within 50 or 100 miles from epicenter.U r changing rock formation and land mass will shift....I love U noel marie....tunsie

tunsie said...

I want everydody in cyber space that the beautiful,manificent.fantabulous pretty.elegant.hot hot hot hostess with the mostest...NOEL MARIE is doubling as a blog operator.super model.future president of the U.S. of A is also a.........SEISMOLOGIST...how do u know it was a nutural earthquake,,,,dont U think there R things they R not telling us...dont U think the gas company is greasing thier palm as they R reporting....I love U my sweet siesmologist...tunsie baby

david said...

Tunsie, this may come as a shocker...but I think you MAY have a point. Fracking is a nasty evil business, and as a new technology it's long term effects may well not be known for decades. It is possible and even somewhat likely that Fracking may have something to do with this. The information simply does not exist to make an educated guess. But it is a bit coincidental for my taste. Whatever the case may be. if their is an anti-Christ it is the person who came up with the idea of shooting poisons and carcinogens into the earth for no greater reason than to speed up the relatively safe and proven existing methods of gas drilling. If there is a Devil and if there is a hell...clearly, these ideas came from those places.
Anyhow,
Peace,
David

tachitup said...

Awright, stop already with the fracking thing.
I was by the pool in OC, MD, few hundred yards from the beach and felt it. First time I ever felt one and knew that it wasn't just a big truck going by. I'm surprised that it was felt by so many soooo far away.
I bet fracking could have an effect, but fracking in PA ain't gonna cause it near Richmond, VA.

tunsie said...

I know fracking here wont cause it there...But a 60 minute show 2 months ago show some farmers who have become SHALE-IONAIRES..they let the companys dig on thier land....My reasoning is if they R doing it 100 places in the country.U still R disrupting rock formation and ultimately land mass will shift to settle down....I yuv U noel marie U R soooooooooooooooooo beautiful...tunsie

tunsie said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
david said...

In the plus column, it seems as though no one was truly hurt. So I'm going to side with my more right wing friends and suggest that we just never think about it again.
It will of course never happen again (like that thing with the banks) and if something does go wrong and one day it's found that we could have done something to stop it...we can blame it on Obama and the DIMocrats...hells, it's worked so far. Why change a winning strategy.
Morning,
David

camille said...

I was on the 2nd floor of my house and it seemed to go on for at least 40 seconds- I had time to run up and down a flight of stairs 3 times to check on my napping boys and cousin, turn on the news, make a number of attempted calls and send texts. That was the strange part to me- how long it seemed to last. My cousin thought it was over and I insisted it was not- and he saw that the mirrors were still rattling against the wall and water in a glass still shaking and then it ended. I liked the link you posted and your comment about preparedness David- thanks for that. I got a text the instant it started from a friend in DC that I had been texting with and it said "Earthquake"- so I did not initially think it was a truck or bomb or plane or something- but as it continued the thoughts did cross my mind about some sort of explosion or crash or something. It was not comfortable but I did not feel panicked about it. As for the fracking- it is clearly so dangerous and we really should be using more green energy anyways- solar, wind and hydro- there are some really great options nowadays.

david said...

Thanks,
It is a shame that the nazi's and other freaks have made the basic concept of prepared living into a sort of national joke. But there are many perfectly sane people who have come back to the concept both here in the states and overseas. There really is just a lot going on and I think it's fair to say that we really have little idea what the future holds for either our personal futures (lay offs, spikes in gas, heating oil, food prices...sick dogs, children,etc...)or nationally ( the economy, natural disasters, terrorism, etc...).
I'd love to see a Community Emergency Response Team here in Easton.
http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/
Or other such volunteer organizations, but they are tricky and to be fair aren't always of much use until there is an emergency.
Still, with govt cut backs we are going to be more "On our own" then at any time in recent history. And it is not the worst idea to be prepared ...not in the militant sense, but in the sane one.
A quick BTW-that whole time shift thing is perfectly normal, most experience it in emergencies...or in really long lines at the movies.
Blessings,
David

tunsie said...

I whole heatedly have to disagree with U relating a PLUS side...there is no plus side to this.20 years ago if someone told U the ground is going to shake...They would of asked U...DO U THINK YOU'RE IN CALIFORNIA.I also dont think we should try to make this a DEM/REP issue with this...This is an american issue...HUMAN lives R at stake here,because we dont know if this is a once and done occurence....I love U noel marie....tunsie

Fia said...

Interesting article: Fracking could have caused East Coast earthquake
Published: 24 August, 2011

http://rt.com/usa/news/fracking-earthquake-virginia-dc-817-061/

and related article:
http://rt.com/usa/news/researchers-study-fracking-earthquakes/

tunsie said...

ALL RIGHT all right now.is somebody gonna reward me with the call as I saw it.....I save the world over and over,but I never get a purple cow.for my efforts.....I yuv U noel marie...tunsie

noel jones said...

thanks for the link, Sophia.

per Camille's comment--Camille was in Brooklyn and New York felt the quake much more than we did--the more easterly areas are all on the same shifting plate--my guess is that here in Easton, 75 miles west, that we are probably across the fault line...

any of the New York video they have been playing on TV show a much stronger hit than anything we felt here...

david said...

So to be fair, nice call Tunsie and my crack was sarcasm. If we've had one we will sooner or later have more. It is in our interests to be as prepared as possible as both individuals and as a community.
I agree that this should not be a party sided issue , but there is serious money on the table and for a shocking amount of people...that changes everything.
Peace,
David

tunsie said...

OFF TOPIC....Why R we fracking anyway why isnt there energy FARMS all across the country...SOLAR.WIND.and WATERFALL.why dont we use every nook and cranny of this country to harness all the clean energy we can get.than we can supplement with fossil fuels...We have great minds in this country..we R gooing to extract more and more energy this way with time.This will make us less and less dependent on fossil fuels...We'll lower our ADDICTION for oil,every year...I love U Noel Marie.....tunsie

noel jones said...

i see i am overdue for a good fracking post...stay tuned...

david said...

For those with an interest, The California OEM and FEMA say to stay in buildings and basically duck and cover (under something heavy and solid...like a doorway or heavy desk). The time to leave a building is after the initial quake, not during...I had no idea...Earthquakes until two days ago were just not on the list of things I ever had to plan for. Well, now I know and felt I should share that knowledge.
David

noel jones said...

I was always taught to stand in a doorjamb, as it is more stable than other parts of a room...

david said...

You know, this may well be the first real break in the storm. If Manhattan people with wealth. Landowners and such can be brought to feel that their billion dollar real estate interests may be threatened by Fracking. Then we may finally see the supper wealthy fighting the supper wealthy. When an Apartment sells for 1.2 million...you can be damned sure that the owners are not going to get walked all over like Pa or Alabama townies.If this starts to threaten people with serious wealth...we will see a change in policies. This just may well be the start of the fight that ends Fracking...I'll keep my fingers crossed.
David

noel jones said...

here's an interesting clip on animals sensing the earthquake before it happened:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44270743#44270743

when i was growing up in Alaska, my parents told me that just before the great quake of '64, all the dogs everywhere started barking and howling and acting anxious.

funny coincidence, the night before the quake i was sitting on my porch in the West Ward with a friend and all the dogs in the neighborhood seemed to go crazy at the same time. so i told my friend about the connection to quakes. and then the next day, the quake happened. but i say it was just a coincidence because when animals sense quakes it's usually within 30 minutes of it happening...

tunsie said...

I am not saving the world anymore...did I get purple cow 4 my trouble noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....I yuv noel marie....tunsie