We're OK- Earthquake hits NYC

[Diamondsbylauren]

I was sitting at the desk looking at some awesome Precision cut colored stones with Roger Dery, and I said-" Roger- do you feel the building shaking?"
"Maybe it's the construction next door" he said.

Nope, NYC just experienced a 5.5 quake......

[lovecolor]

David, did you feel the earthquake from Virginia...a 5.9 quake that i  just felt at the Jersey Shore, Manasquan,N.J.  Hopefully, it is not a second one...i was sitting on a couch when it started to move up and down making me think it was possessed by a ghost.   

[clgwli]

Yeah we felt it too here in Ohio!!!  That's craziness.  I guess a few building downtown were evacuated or something like that.

I need to check with my BIL to see if he's all good there (he lives in VA).

[DiamondsAreForever]

David, did you feel the earthquake from Virginia...a 5.9 quake that i  just felt at the Jersey Shore, Manasquan,N.J.  Hopefully, it is not a second one...i was sitting on a couch when it started to move up and down making me think it was possessed by a ghost.   

We felt it in Edison, NJ, About 40 miles away, and also in the Trenton area.  It was reportedly centered in Mineral, VA between Richmond and Charlottesville.  It registered 3.6 at the University of Maryland College Park, where one of my friend's sons goes to school (per USGS).

[Mrs Mitchell]

Oh wow. That's a little bit scary. No damage, I trust? I don't think of NYC as being prone to quakes. I suppose they can happen anywhere. We had one here a few years ago. Only a very little one though!

Hope everyone is ok and not too shaken (pardon the rather awful pun...)

[DiamondsAreForever]

Oh wow. That's a little bit scary. No damage, I trust? I don't think of NYC as being prone to quakes. I suppose they can happen anywhere. We had one here a few years ago. Only a very little one though!

Hope everyone is ok and not too shaken (pardon the rather awful pun...)

Just stirred a little, Mrs. M., just stirred.

[dovesgate]

I was in the 6.2 that hit Paso Robles, Ca in December 2003. They can be scary. I hope there were not many injuries.

[annie1]

We're about 50 miles away from the epicenter.  We definitely felt it, but as far as I can tell there was no damage around here. 

I know the WM and Trink are also near the epicenter. 

[clgwli]

Oh wow. That's a little bit scary. No damage, I trust? I don't think of NYC as being prone to quakes. I suppose they can happen anywhere. We had one here a few years ago. Only a very little one though!

Hope everyone is ok and not too shaken (pardon the rather awful pun...)

Just stirred a little, Mrs. M., just stirred.

love it!!!

My DH called my BIL and he is fine.  Apparently the center was in VA SW of where he lives and registered at 5.9

I just think it is nuts that people way up even in Rhode Island as well as in Detroit Michigan felt it!

[Trinkette]

The quake originated about 30 miles from us (as the crow flies), and is probably just about halfway between my house and where WM is. I am in a brick house built in the 40s (ie, built like a fortress) and my son and I both felt and heard a big quake for as long as a minute. What was most weird was the SOUND... at first, I heard some jars jiggling on the kitchen counter, then as the house began shaking all over there was a low rumble that sounded like a train coming. I thought for a moment it might be a big military helicopter overhead (frequently helicopters and military planes pass over us on their way to training in the West Virginia mountains; they can be ear-shatteringly loud), but the sound was not loud enough to sound like a helicopter that could be close enough to actually shake the house. And the shaking kept going... It was almost like the sound you hear when something is unbalanced in the clothes dryer (but, then, of course, the dryer here has never shook the house, and the sound we heard was too rhythmical for such a thing, lol).

So, the train rumble got louder and louder and the shaking got bigger and bigger. Both sound and noise were impressive. My son came downstairs after some empty gatorade bottles on a table in his room fell to the floor, and we stood in the front doorway through most of the event (should have been outside, but I worried about big oak trees falling after some heavy rains). I guessed that we were experiencing an earthquake, but, I did worry that it might be something connected to a huge gas line that runs underground about a 1/2 mile from here (and has a connector to the house). I was actually relieved to learn on the TV a few minutes later that it had actually been an earthquake (not the precursor to a gas explosion).

We were lucky, in addition to the fallen gatorade bottles, just a couple of paintings on the wall moved, some doors on a decorative wrought-iron cabinet opened, and a light went out in the basement. That was it in our little fortress... which seemed peculiar after such dramatic shaking (although the kitty in the basement was frantic to get out afterwards; all the other animals were pretty nonchalant about the whole thing). It was like, we could see the walls and doorways shaking, but the floor stayed stable (or at least we felt steady standing on the floor). Kind of hard to explain. Others in our town experienced such force that pictures on the walls actually flipped around, stuff jumped off counters and tables and people feared their windows and sliding doors would shatter from the shaking.

Almost exactly an hour after the initial quake, I heard a low rumble and experienced some more shaking for about 5 or 6 seconds... it was so subtle that my son did not even notice it. Both times, I heard the rumble first, and it seemed that the noise and shaking came from one distinct direction (and, interestingly, it is not directly from the epicenter). Just glad my DH is home now!

Don't know if this has hit the national news yet: there is a nuclear plant just a few miles from the epicenter; were are told that the two operating reactors automatically shut-down as the quake hit.

[Trinkette]

Sorry to be so long-winded... 

[djm195]

...and that's what we love about you.

(that and when you post in 90 pt font) 

[djm195]

Glad you are okay T.

Love you.

[Trinkette]

Err, DJM, you mean, 99-point type. If only I could figure out how to make the smileys big too.  

[Trinkette]

 

[Trinkette]

Actually, I am curious to hear WM's account... especially, if she heard the train sound.

[Mrs Mitchell]

Trinkette, that's a really interesting description! It isn't at all how I would have imagined it - thanks for posting, it was fascinating to read. The gas line and the nuclear plant? OMG. Scary stuff.

[DiamondsAreForever]

Sorry to be so long-winded... 

Thanks for the update.

[clgwli]

Actually, I am curious to hear WM's account... especially, if she heard the train sound.

I've heard others say that of earthquakes elsewhere.  I admit I loved hearing your account (particularly since all are well there) and it is good to know the nuclear plant shut down immediately.  That kind of thing sounds smart to me.

I hope to talk to family late who live in VA and MD to see what they felt/heard. 

[oldmancoyote]

 

[Trinkette]

Just had another aftershock. Dogs barked as the low rumbling noise approached (much quieter this time). Then, little shudders went through the house along with the rumble. Upstairs, my son called down afterwards, "Did you feel that?" Kind of like what you'd experience in a subway station as you hear and feel the train cars approaching...

[oldmancoyote]

( )

[Mikla]

That must be pretty freaky for everyone in the area affected by the earthquake.  I hope everyone and their friends and family is okay along with their homes and belongings.  I was in Marina del Rey about eight years ago, and was in the kitchen cleaning up.  The floor just dropped out beneath me like the house was falling down.  Very mild earthquake.  OMG!  I'll take a hurricane any day of the week over that feeling.

Mikla

[dovesgate]

Actually, I am curious to hear WM's account... especially, if she heard the train sound.

That is almost exactly what it sounds like. A loud rumbling that is like a train coming towards you. I'm from Southern California on the San Andreas fault line. Little ones sound like a really long semi truck is rumbling past you.

[Sanchica27]

I'm on Long Island, about 20 miles from NYC...at first I thought someone had jumped on the roof!  It was pretty strange!