1.8 magnitude earthquake rattles D.C. area

1.8 magnitude earthquake rattles D.C. area

www.wtopnews.com

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck at 1:30 p.m.

The rumblings rattled parts of Northern Virginia - including Vienna, Falls Church, Annandale, Baileys Crossroads and Lorton - around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. People in Silver Spring and Bethesda also reported feeling the quake.

Some people called authorities to report that they could feel the ground rumbling, said Debbie Powers, deputy coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management for Arlington County.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Very interesting to read this considering all the strange earthquakes lately including that od earthquake grid thread that is at ats. In my opinion something is going on and its not global warming.

I say with the cyclone in burma to consider i say we have ourselves some weather weapons and earthquake weapons being tested.

www.wtopnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

People felt a 1.8? Wow....I guess I must be jaded living here in CA. Anything under a 3.5 I don't even notice. A tad bit odd, but given the recent quake off the New Madrid, not all that unexpected in my mind.

Again, 1.8 = no big deal.

That had to be a very shallow quake for people to notice it. That polar shift concept is starting to look more plausible every day, to be honest.

1.8? I didn't think anything that mild could be felt over vehicular traffic? I'm surprised anyone felt it at all!

Did w make his surprise texas chili again last night? The SS knows that man can't hold his beans!

We have to remember what kind of ground they sit on on the East coast. Over here on the West Coast, we have the luxury of being on soft soil-based earth, while the east coast is sitting on a harder, shale-based layer of earth. Any earthquake felt over there spreads out quite a ways from the epicenter. Some quakes in Illinois have been felt as far away as Virginia before. As a reference, notice how far away the 5.4 about 2 weeks ago in Illinois was felt.

According to the CNN Article on this quake:

People as far away as Niceville, Florida, 891 miles away, reported to the USGS Web site that they had felt the quake.

Reports also came in from such distant places as West Virginia, Alabama and Kansas.

People as far away as southwest Michigan and northeast Georgia e-mailed CNN to say they felt Friday's temblor

So, it's no wonder that people feel smaller quakes further away over there than we do over here. I guess we CAN call ourselves lucky. However, when the big one hits, we have to deal with the liquifaction, while all they'll likely have to deal with will be falling buildings and broken gas lines.

TheBorg

[Edited for capitalization error.]

[edit on 6-5-2008 by TheBorg]

Here in California, we consider a 1.8 just a foot massage.

Sorry but this hardly qualifies as news.

reply to post by Wildbob77


I wouldn't be so hasty about that. It's extremely unusual for there to be a quake in that area of the country, regardless of the magnitude.

I think it deserves at least a cursory inspection.

TheBorg

reply to post by TheBorg


Thanks for the explanation!

Yeah something is amiss in this story.

Richter 1.8 is absolutely miniscule. I think even a road digger would have a bigger effect.

If you are sitting on the floor of your living room and the house is quiet you may see or feel a 1.8. That is about the minimum I have felt in New England. Sounds most like a soumeones blasting rock but a little different.
Virginia is actually somewhat seismically active - sort of .

Earthquake Shakes Northern Virginia

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake occurred in northern Virginia at 1:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time. The epicenter was about 1 mile west-southwest of Annandale, VA and 13 miles west-south-west of Washington, DC. The USGS has received no reports of damage at this time.

"This earthquake is just large enough to be felt, but not large enough to cause damage," said USGS scientist Bill Leith.

The most recent earthquake recorded in the Northern Virginia area was a magnitude 2.5 earthquake near Manassas, Va., on Sept. 29, 1997.

On Feb. 23, 2005, there was a similar type event in the Baltimore metropolitan area, as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake was felt strongly and widely. There was a series of seismic events in March and April 1993, in Columbia, Maryland, ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 in magnitude.

The largest recorded earthquake centered in Virginia occurred on May 31, 1897 near Giles County. The magnitude was 5.9 and extended from Lynchburg, VA west to Bluefield, WV and from Giles County south to Bristol, TN.

www.usgs.gov...

[edit on 5/6/08 by stikkinikki]

[edit on 5/6/08 by stikkinikki]