I feel the Earth move under my feet... (quake!)

[eldritchhobbit]

To those of you who, like me, are in the Eastern USA: how are you?

We've been shaken, rattled, and rolled a bit here in a "vibrate your drinking glass across the table and onto the floor" sort of way. It wasn't my first earthquake, but it was my first one here. Virginia growled as if she thought it to be a particularly unwelcome FedEx delivery person. (She's still planted at the front door, keeping guard, as I type this.) Fortunately, I don't see any significant damage at first glance. I need to check on my friends, family, and colleagues to the north.

How about everyone else?

It looks like this is being classified a 5.9 quake (I've seen as high as 6.2 in various reports.)

Earthquake in Virginia felt in New York, Washington, and North Carolina

Comments

[agameofthree.livejournal.com]

We're okay here, as is husband in Quantico. A few things fell off of shelves and cabinets opened, but nothing seems to be broken. Apparently, there's been some sporadic damage around the area, though, from first reports.

Glad you're okay!

[llembas.livejournal.com]

Glad you and Virginia are all right. Maybe her fierceness will scare anymore earthquakes away. :-)

[curtana.livejournal.com]

We felt it here in Michigan!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Whew, glad you're okay and your husband is, too! Here's hoping any damage turns out to be minor. I'm sending good thoughts.

Thanks!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! LOL. I hope so. Any potential aftershocks do not want what Virginia would dish out. ;)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Yikes! That's quite a distance! I hope all is well there - and that no aftershocks are forthcoming.

(That seemed to go on a lot longer than the last 'quake I experienced...)

[curtana.livejournal.com]

Here we could feel a mild shaking for about 3-4 minutes, but I work in a fairly tall building, so I think it probably felt more pronounced than on the ground. So far as I know all is well, except for some freaked-out dogs :)

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Friends as far as Boston are reporting feeling it, but I felt nothing. I was outside walking at the time.

Glad you (and Virginia!) are OK!

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Doing fine! But I wondered what on earth was happening, especially after I went downstairs to ask my stepdad what he thought it was, and he hadn't felt anything. :P But now I know it really was an earthquake when he house shook for a good 30 seconds! I'd thought the massive iron attic fan had gotten dislodged from the window or something. Glad you're okay!

[chickenfried-jo.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're okay. 5.9 is decent though here in Cali, we're a bit used to that. Hope your nerves survive.

[arymetore.livejournal.com]

Family in Lancaster, VA area (on the bay) didn't notice anything.

Some others in like air traffic control towers in Fairfax (near DC) definitely felt it.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

All's well here, it looks like. Still, I'll take a tornado any day of the week. At least there's warning with those. *wink*

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

So glad you missed out on the excitement! I could've done without it, myself. Ha!

Thanks. You too!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear you're okay! *hugs*

It did seem to go on for a long time... much longer than the last one I'd experienced. Or maybe it just felt that way. It sounded a bit like a low-flying helicopter.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Poor dogs! Virginia's still guarding the front door in case it comes back. ;)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I'm glad at least some of them missed out on the excitement. I hope everyone is well!

[chickenfried-jo.livejournal.com]

the ground shaking can be a bit un-nerving. we get so used to the earth being solid, that we can forget, pretty easily, that it's a dynamic living thing. Just a thin shell of crust on a molten moving core.

[cookiefleck.livejournal.com]

Your perception of 3-4 minutes is interesting... they actually last less than a minute, although it seems like forever when it's happening! The earthquake that devastated San Francisco only lasted 30 seconds.

[cookiefleck.livejournal.com]

Smart dog to growl, LOL. My son and his wife felt it and are okay.

[curtana.livejournal.com]

It could have been aftershocks, or maybe the building shook longer than the ground itself, I don't know, but my office building's shaking definitely lasted minutes, not seconds. It was long enough for me to notice things were shaking, for everyone to converge in the central office, sit down and discuss what was happening, make jokes about going to hide in the bathroom or the basement ("no, that's for tornadoes!"), for me to update FB and get responses from several people who also felt it, for other people to check if it said anything on the news yet, and for all of us to say "gee, is it *still* going on?" several times. By the end the wobbling was very faint, but still noticeable to all of us.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

So glad your son and his wife are okay!

Just like the last one I was in (when I was on a business trip to Indiana, of all places - it woke me up in the wee morning hours), this was preceded by a loud popping sound around the windows, so my brain instantly reacted with "Tornado!" despite the fact we don't have the proper conditions for one at the moment. Ah, if only. ;) I'm hardwired not to bat an eye at tornadoes. I know what to do for those!

Fortunately, I grabbed my cranberry juice before it could redecorate half the room, which it was well on its way toward doing.

Virginia is still standing guard next to the door, sweet girl.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

That's so true!

[chickenfried-jo.livejournal.com]

beautiful illusions filled with denial that make each day do-able. Better than freaking out and being paranoid. Still, makes the odd occasion rather exciting, doesn't it?

[lucybun.livejournal.com]

All good here. Amazingly enough, it wasn't any worse 50 miles from you. ;D Not my first one either, but this one lasted a lot longer. Glad you're okay! Hopefully, no one anywhere got hurt.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear you're okay! It did last a really long time, didn't it? The last one I was in woke me up, and by the time I was really awake, it was over. With this one, I had the time to go up and down stairs, rescue the glasses, get Virginia to the doorway, grab the phone, go back and check the laptop, use the laptop, etc. It sounded a bit like a helicopter was just hovering above our roof, refusing to leave. So bizarre.