3.6 Earthquake Rattle Washington DC

3.6 Earthquake Rattle Washington DC

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5:04 AM EST Washington DC experienced a minor 3.6-3.7 earthquake

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
earthquake.usgs.gov

First an earthquake near Quebec now one in Washington, Seems like these earthquakes are popping up in places that don't normally get them. Seems like the New York - Philadelphia - Wilmington urban corridor area might be becoming seismically more active. No damage is being reported and only a slight shaking sensation has been felt by those in the immediate area.

Right from the USGS website


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(visit the link for the full news article)

They are in the meizosiesmic area of the New Madrid Faultline.

I believe that faultline is going to go, like it did in 1811-1812, only now there are so many people and buildings and dams that it will be catastrophic when it does go.

Originally posted by space cadet
They are in the meizosiesmic area of the New Madrid Faultline.

I believe that faultline is going to go, like it did in 1811-1812, only now there are so many people and buildings and dams that it will be catastrophic when it does go.

The USGS site has a ton of historical data on earthquake activity in the region, in every region for that matter, it may only be me but there seems to be a pattern of earthquakes moving southeast and growing in strength each time.

[edit on 16-7-2010 by Moriarty]

A 3.6 earthquake? That's not gonna rattle anything. It's barely noticeable. We have those up and down California all the time. Look at the maps on the USGS sight. They're all over the place.

Originally posted by NightGypsy
A 3.6 earthquake? That's not gonna rattle anything. It's barely noticeable. We have those up and down California all the time. Look at the maps on the USGS sight. They're all over the place.

You said it, all the time in California, its rare for the eastern seaboard to get an earthquake at all especially 2 within a month of each other

Beat me to it, I will have to delete my post. I am at work and everyone in the building felt it, we though our 16 meter satellite antenna came crashing down as much as it shook the building. We are about 16 miles from the epicenter as reported.

Originally posted by Moriarty

Originally posted by NightGypsy
A 3.6 earthquake? That's not gonna rattle anything. It's barely noticeable. We have those up and down California all the time. Look at the maps on the USGS sight. They're all over the place.

You said it, all the time in California, its rare for the eastern seaboard to get an earthquake at all especially 2 within a month of each other

You can't even feel an earthquake that size unless you are standing on top of it, and earthquakes like that do happen all over the world and largely go unnoticed.

bentai22 if that is the case I am suspecting the quake was much larger than a 3 pointer. To bring down your antenna it must not have been secured because strong gust of wind can do more damage than a 3.6. Been through enough to know. They don't even know the photos of the wall.

[edit on 16-7-2010 by calstorm]

Edit again because I just checked map and now I am disappointed. I didn't feel the 3.9 quake not to far from me.

[edit on 16-7-2010 by calstorm]

reply to post by Moriarty


3.6 Mag in this area is pretty big. It was quite a shock to myself and my collegues at work this morning. Sounded like an explosion to us.

Originally posted by bentai22
reply to post by Moriarty

 

3.6 Mag in this area is pretty big. It was quite a shock to myself and my collegues at work this morning. Sounded like an explosion to us.

I was getting dressed this morning, I initially thought DC got blown up. I didn't feel the ground shake, although the lamp in my room was vibrating.



[edit on 16-7-2010 by kingofmd]

Originally posted by bentai22
Beat me to it, I will have to delete my post. I am at work and everyone in the building felt it, we though our 16 meter satellite antenna came crashing down as much as it shook the building. We are about 16 miles from the epicenter as reported.

Saw you mention the gas mining in your post. Those new gas mines are up in my neck of the woods, you want to talk about a pain in the neck those have been

Out of curiosity as im unaware but is there a fault that leads directly from here towards the gulf? Could the pressure be causing the oil to find other weaknesses in the area or possibly displacing other areas? Or could it be that the oil that has leaked has left a void that has been weakened and allowing the areas to be more prone to moving?

Theres also something else thats concerning, well to me atleast. That is the area Kern Canyon fault and white wolf fault.
heres the linkwww.sfgate.com...



A seismic fault in the Sierra Nevada, believed to have been quiet for more than 3 million years, is active after all and capable of triggering strong quakes with magnitudes of 6 or even 7, scientists say.

Earthquake history in the District of Columbia.

No historical earthquake has been centered within the District of Columbia.

Ground vibrations from earthquakes in such seismic regions as the St. Lawrence River Valley, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, and South Carolina have been felt by D.C. residents, but have caused no damage. A great earthquake which did considerable damage at Guadeloupe, West Indies, was felt in the Eastern United States, especially at Washington, D.C., in 1843.

The earliest shock that may have affected some sections of Washington occurred on April 24, 1758. Its probable center was near Annapolis, Maryland, and it was felt into Pennsylvania.

A sequence of great earthquakes occurred in the Mississippi Embayment in 1811 and 1812. They were noticed by people over an area of 2 million square miles, including the District of Columbia. District residents were "badly frightened" according to old records.

An earthquake in March 1828 was felt over a wide area, including seven Eastern States and the District of Columbia. Although no damage occurred, it was reported to be "violent" in D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. John Quincy Adams, then President of the United States, left the following account in his diary of the occurrence as he observed the shock at the White House:

March 9, 1828. There was this evening the shock of an earthquake, the first which I ever distinctly noticed at the moment when it happened. I was writing in this book, when the table began to shake under my hand and the floor under my feet. The window shutters rattled as if shaken by the wind, and there was a momentary sensation as of the heaving of a ship on the waves. It continued about two minutes, then ceased. It was about eleven at night. I immediately left writing, and went to my bedchamber, where my wife was in bed, much alarmed.

earthquake.usgs.gov...

bentai22 if that is the case I am suspecting the quake was much larger than a 3 pointer. To bring down your antenna it must not have been secured because strong gust of wind can do more damage than a 3.6. Been through enough to know. They don't even know the photos of the wall.

It didn't bring down the antenna. When it happened, thats the first thing that we thought that caused our building to shake the way that it did.

Also, just a comment on the earthquakes in Cali Vs. East Coast. I think that the smaller magnitude quakes arent felt in Cali due to the soil make up, being sandy. On the East Coast, the p-waves travel farther and higher in intensity because of the rocky makeup of our soil here, and the depth of the bedrock here.

reply to post by bentai22


I am sorry, I miss read. Interesting theory about the soil.

reply to post by calstorm


Calstorm, here is an interesting read for you on the soil, this theory goes to explain why earthquakes in sandy areas cause much more damage.

Soil Liquifaction

The area impacted by an earthquake in the Northeast can be up to 40 times greater than the same magnitude event occuring on the West coast due to our regional geology.

Due to the solid bedrock geology of the Northeast, a large earthquake will affect a much wider area than an earthquake of similar magnitude in California.

www.nesec.org...

Originally posted by NightGypsy
A 3.6 earthquake? That's not gonna rattle anything. It's barely noticeable. We have those up and down California all the time. Look at the maps on the USGS sight. They're all over the place.

We had one here a few years back centered around Hot Springs NC about that size, I live about 30 or so miles from there and it felt like my house was hit by a truck. Barely noticeable isn't the words I'd use to describe it.

Originally posted by space cadet
They are in the meizosiesmic area of the New Madrid Faultline.

I believe that faultline is going to go, like it did in 1811-1812, only now there are so many people and buildings and dams that it will be catastrophic when it does go.

I recently did some reading up on that quake, hope you're wrong because a major quake along that fault like the ones in 1811-1812 would be devastating.

en.wikipedia.org...
There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over roughly 130,000 square kilometers (50,000 square miles), and moderately across nearly 3 million square kilometers (1 million square miles). The historic 1906 San Francisco earthquake, by comparison, was felt moderately over roughly 16,000 square kilometers (6,000 square miles).
December 16, 1811, 0815 UTC (2:15 a.m.); (M ~7.2 - 8.1[1]) epicenter in northeast Arkansas. It caused only slight damage to man-made structures, mainly because of the sparse population in the epicentral area. The future location of Memphis, Tennessee experienced level IX shaking on the Mercalli intensity scale. A seismic seiche propagated upriver and Little Prairie was heavily damaged by soil liquefaction[2]
December 16, 1811, 1415 UTC (8:15 a.m.); (M ~7.2 - 8.1) epicenter in northeast Arkansas. This shock followed the first earthquake by six hours and was similar in intensity.[1]
January 23, 1812, 1500 UTC (9 a.m.); (M ~7.0 - 7.8[1]) epicenter in the Missouri Bootheel. The meizoseismal area was characterized by general ground warping, ejections, fissuring, severe landslides, and caving of stream banks. Johnson and Schweig attributed this earthquake to a rupture on the New Madrid North Fault. This may have placed strain on the Reelfoot Fault.[2]
February 7, 1812, 0945 UTC (4:45 a.m.); (M ~7.4 - 8.0[1]) epicenter near New Madrid, Missouri. New Madrid was destroyed. At St. Louis, Missouri, many houses were severely damaged, and their chimneys were toppled. This shock was definitively attributed to the Reelfoot Fault by Johnston and Schweig. Uplift along a segment of this reverse fault created temporary waterfalls on the Mississippi at Kentucky Bend, created waves that propagated upstream, and caused the formation of Reelfoot Lake by obstructing streams in Lake County, Tennessee.[2]

An 8.1 there today would probably wipe out the TVA dams, and do unimaginable damage in the South East. Hope it's just a seismic fluke.

According to MSNBC this is "The largest earthquake ever recorded within 30 miles of Washington, D.C". I hate to bust the Californians' bubbles about not being able to feel it such a weak quake.......apparently it was enough to wake people out of bed and was felt in the D.C.-area, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

DC Rattled by area's largest recorded quake

Originally posted by bentai22
Beat me to it, I will have to delete my post. I am at work and everyone in the building felt it, we though our 16 meter satellite antenna came crashing down as much as it shook the building. We are about 16 miles from the epicenter as reported.

I live bar Baltimore (in Columbia, MD). It felt like a big gust of wind that rocked the house and rattled the windows. I was like "this is weird" but didn't think anything of it until u saw the news...