<p>Another Californian here. We’ve been here six years and there have been three earthquakes you could feel. The farthest away from us was the biggest, longest, and most stereotypically “rumbly.” I was in the tub and the water sloshed over the side. A smaller one that was a 5.1 but really close was more like a crash of sharp lightening. The image of the pebble thrown in the water is a great description.</p>
<p>I felt a mild rumbling in Toronto but didn’t realize it was an earthquake at the time. There’s construction going on at two houses on our street and I thought that that was what I was feeling/hearing. Two of my dogs did go a little crazy, though, and I couldn’t figure out what it was they were barking at. Glad to hear that there doesn’t seem to be too much damage anywhere.</p>
<p>During shaking, people shouldn’t get up and run out of unreinforced masonry buildings (and the East Coast has tons of them).</p>
<p>Take cover under a desk or table and try to stay calm.</p>
<p>My daughter’s office in DC lost a few interior light fixtures and were not allowed back into the office until the Engineers checked out the building. I was IMing with her when she typed We had an earthquake; the office was shaking and lights were moving. Then she said they were evacuating. Turns out it was going on while we were chatting! My resourceful daughter took her computer with her and was able to get a wireless signal while outside, so we continued to chat.</p>
<p>They were able to go back into the building after about an hour. My first thought was it was a bomb, not an earthquake. Luckily, the news came on and confirmed it was a earthquake.</p>
<p>
Thanks for thinking of us in this way, blueiguana. For a split second, that did cross my mind as I felt my roof rumble.</p>
<p>There was damage to the facades and roofs of some older buildings in downtown Baltimore. One thing on one of my shelves turned over - weird.</p>
<p>S2 had to evacuate from his English class at UNC Because the building was “shaking dangerously”. First day of classes of his freshman year of college. What a memory he’ll have.</p>
<p>And if Hurricane Irene
takes a zig zag to the left, this coming weekend will be memorable one, as well.</p>
<p>I felt it here in CT… it woke me out of a deep sleep… I thought it was my boyfriend who had come into the house/was shaking the bed to play a joke on me… then I realized that it wasn’t him… the lamp was shaking and so was the fan/shades… I thought I was going crazy or a dream… it lasted what seemed like a minute or 2…</p>
<p>I’m in NoVA but didn’t feel the earthquake, since DH and I were driving when it happened. We stopped for sandwiches and everyone was talking about it. Listened to the radio on the way home and they were reporting 5.9 on the Richter Scale, with an aftershock of either 2.1 or 2.9 (two different reports). One of the radio guys said that the aftershock was about half of the original. I didn’t think that was right, so I googled Richter Scale and Wiki came up. It explained that each whole number is 10 time amplitude and 31 times energy…BUT the most interesting thing was that the article listed earthquake by tenth of a points, and the 5.9 example was Virginia 2011…with a link to a paragraph description of what had happened less than two hours before! I was impressed!</p>
<p>I was working at my home office desk and thought my dog was tossing her ball at my chair. I kept yelling at her to stop it but then looked up and saw her hiding under a nearby table. She is a wreck. Her first earthquake. Keeps looking at me beseechingly, as if I made the Earth rumble.</p>
<p>now everyoooone is running out to gggget the earthquake insurance…</p>
<p>join the cal family…:)</p>
<p>If you’ like to help the USGS compile information about the quake, you can complete the “did you feel it” questionnaire at the following link:</p>
<p>[M5.8</a> – Virginia](<a href=“Did You Feel It?”>Did You Feel It?)</p>
<p>The earth moved here in DC!! 5.8-5.9 and very shallow, which is why it was felt across such a wide area. Some spires on top of the Washington Cathedral broke off and there is flooding in one part of the Pentagon, but nothing major. Metro is running at 15 mph until they have completed a full check of the line. </p>
<p>Cell phones have been out til now, mainly because everyone was trying to call people. Never lost power or internet, so FB and twitter have been popular sources for updates on friends and family this afternoon. </p>
<p>DH is a fed and they were sent home around 3:00. He decided not to brave the immediate hordes on Metro and went for a gelato instead. Smart guy.</p>
<p>I was at work (MD, right near the DC line); at first there was ~15-20 seconds of shaking, a few seconds of stillness, and then more vigorous lateral movements. Stuff on my desk was shaking and I thought we might have a couple ceiling tiles fall out of their brackets. I found it interesting to experience. First reaction in the office was a plane crash (we are on the National Airport flightpath and across the street from a highly secure fed building) or that the maintenance guys were working on the roof/A/C unit had blown. </p>
<p>We were sent home early yesterday because the power went out inexplicably. (Turns out a car accident a couple miles away took down the lines.) The noise form the earthquake sounded like the giant circuit boxes blowing the way they did yesterday afternoon.</p>
<p>We had a small 3.6 near here last summer and it was just enough to make me roll over in bed, think “was that an earthquake?”, decide it wasn’t and go back to sleep.</p>
<p>Coming up: the Zombie Apocalypse, lice, cow disease, blood and boils!</p>
<p>Felt here in CT.</p>
<p>Felt it in Maryland. At first I thought it was the washing machines, then it became more intense so I grabbed my sister and went under the table.</p>
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<p>Ha ha! Someone sent me this picture in an email earlier today and I posted it on my FB wall!</p>
<p>I was at work (northern VA) and evacuating the building never occurred to me. When I went over to another part of my office, everyone was gone. No one in my department left, we just kept working.</p>
<p>I heard something on a newscast that was unsettling. Went to web and found this quote from an older article about the nuclear power plant in Lake Anna:</p>
<p>“According to Jim Norvelle with Dominion Power, North Anna was designed to withstand a magnitude 5.9 – 6.1 earthquake.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nbc29.com/story/14265528/lake-anna-reactor-ranked-7th-most-at-risk-for-earthquake-damage[/url]”>http://www.nbc29.com/story/14265528/lake-anna-reactor-ranked-7th-most-at-risk-for-earthquake-damage</a></p>
<p>Does this design standard seem a little too close for comfort to anyone else?</p>
<p>[Nuclear</a> power plants under surveillance after earthquake hits - BlogPost - The Washington Post](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/nuclear-power-plants-under-surveillance-after-earthquake-hits/2011/08/23/gIQAw1aUZJ_blog.html]Nuclear”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/nuclear-power-plants-under-surveillance-after-earthquake-hits/2011/08/23/gIQAw1aUZJ_blog.html)</p>
<p>Read this.</p>
<p>We didn’t feel it here in CT, but DS2 is a student at GW. He’s been there all summer, but came home for this week before classes start so he missed the earthquake. He is wondering if all the things in his room (TV, dishes, glasses, etc) are still intact. I guess he’ll find out when he gets back on Sat, if the hurricane doesn’t impact his travels on Amtrak.</p>