...and panic ensued.  Come on guys, take it from us Californians, 5.9 isn't a big deal.

For future reference, the appropriate response to an earthquake is duck and cover, which you would know if East Coast public schools had the foresight to know that just because earthquakes don't usually happen on the Eastern seaboard, doesn't mean that they could never happen.

Comments:


raycon and lindacon
Joined
Oct '10
raycon

Yet another reason the Atlantic oilfields will never be developed.

Not JMR
Joined
Nov '10
Jan-Michael Rives

Life rule: Never take advice from Californians about anything.

ChristmasBeard
Joined
Mar '11
ChristmasBeard

I'm from California and live in the DC area and I'm used to earthquakes. I don't trust the buildings out here to handle them. I grabbed my napping daughter and moved to the front doorway. 

Diane Ellis
Jan-Michael Rives: Life rule: Never take advice from Californians about anything. · Aug 23 at 11:34am

Ha. But we know how to survive big earthquakes! I lived through the Quake of '89 (a 6.9er)

Diane Ellis
ChristmasBeard: I'm from California and live in the DC area and I'm used to earthquakes. I don't trust the buildings out here to handle them. I grabbed my napping daughter and moved to the front doorway.  · Aug 23 at 11:34am

You are right. Buildings out there aren't built to sustain tremors.  Door frames are the best place to be.

Stuart Creque
Joined
Dec '10
Stuart Creque

Diane Ellis, Ed.

ChristmasBeard: I'm from California and live in the DC area and I'm used to earthquakes. I don't trust the buildings out here to handle them. I grabbed my napping daughter and moved to the front doorway.  · Aug 23 at 11:34am

You are right. Buildings out there aren't built to sustain tremors.  Door frames are the best place to be. · Aug 23 at 11:40am

6.0 is plenty big if you're in a town full of unreinforced masonry.

Layla
Joined
Nov '10
Layla

For a very, very long few seconds, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going on. Not until my daughter screamed that her bunk bed was swaying did it all come together for me.

So...clearly I should be voted RIGHT off the island. Useless in an emergency, apparently.

Tommy De Seno

 I feel shaken, not stirred.

Whiskey Sam
Joined
Jul '10
Whiskey Sam

I thought the neighbors were doing Tae Bo again.  I'm 50 miles from the epicenter.  They're telling us on the local news it's the largest earthquake on record for VA.

The King Prawn
Joined
Dec '10
The King Prawn

Natural disasters are no laughing matter, and yet, I chuckle.

Charles Mark
Joined
Aug '10
Charles Mark

I'm reminded of the famous headline in an English newspaper many years ago:
"Small Earthquake in Chile. Not Many Killed."

Edited on August 23, 2011 at 8:49pm
Diane Ellis

Stuart Creque

Diane Ellis, Ed.

ChristmasBeard: I'm from California and live in the DC area and I'm used to earthquakes. I don't trust the buildings out here to handle them. I grabbed my napping daughter and moved to the front doorway.  · Aug 23 at 11:34am

You are right. Buildings out there aren't built to sustain tremors.  Door frames are the best place to be. · Aug 23 at 11:40am

6.0 is plenty big if you're in a town full of unreinforced masonry. · Aug 23 at 11:44am

You're right, you're right. I'll remove the "small" from the title.  It's too cavalier, especially when we don't yet know if anyone was hurt.

Basil Fawlty
Joined
Mar '11
Basil Fawlty

Uncomfortably close to the North Anna nuclear plant!

flownover
Joined
Aug '10
flownover
raycon: Yet another reason the Atlantic oilfields will never be developed. · Aug 23 at 11:33am

I assume you mean that the intensity of the quake was insufficient to destroy the buildings where the EPA is quartered ?

Maybe we'll have to try it by legislation rather than Richter !

Humza Ahmad
Joined
Jul '10
Humza Ahmad

Aaaaaand the New Yorker working at the Japanese Consulate misses the earthquake.

And you are right, Diane. 5.9 is a baby. At least once a month when I was in Japan, much mroe frequently now with continuing aftershocks from March 11. Any geologists on Ricochet can tell us whether the Great Tohoku Earthquake might have had a hand in this?

Mark Wilson
Joined
May '10
Mark Wilson
Diane Ellis, Ed.: ... if East Coast public schools had the foresight to know that just because earthquakes don't usually happen on the Eastern seaboard, doesn't mean that they could never happen. ·

Just to turn your point around, how many schools in the Bay Area hold tornado drills?  I have never even heard a severe weather siren being tested in the six years I've lived here.

A few years ago we had a single flash of lightning and a clap of thunder in  Sunnyvale.  You should have heard the apprehension some people had about going outside to their cars!

Not JMR
Joined
Nov '10
Jan-Michael Rives

Photos of the damage are making the rounds: http://jmckinley.posterous.com/dc-earthquake-devastation

Give Me Liberty
Joined
Apr '11
Give Me Liberty

I can't wait for the prediction of apocalyptic scenarios from the priest of environmental doomism to begin in the MSM. 

Whiskey Sam
Joined
Jul '10
Whiskey Sam
Give Me Liberty: I can't wait for the prediction of apocalyptic scenarios from the priest of environmental doomism to begin in the MSM.  · Aug 23 at 12:06pm

They'll certainly tie in the one last night in Colorado that was over 5.0, as well.

wilber forge
Joined
Oct '10
wilber forge

The Northridge quake was an experience one would rather not repeat. Even a smaller quake can be scary for those new to the event. What was the name of the fault line ?

Will be renamed after Bush. 


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