Tuesday, August 23, 2011

WTF? (Richter scale edition)

We just had a cute little earthquake. In freakin' BALTIMORE.

Update: It was a 5.8 quake, centered in or near Richmond, VA. Cell phone service has been knocked out. CNN is going nuts. C'mon, guys -- when a comparable quake hit Big Bear, CA, I got up on a dining room chair and pretended to surf. The Northridge quake: Now that was a thing. I was near the epicenter.

Still, I can understand why nerves are rattled. The structures out here simply aren't built for that kind of event. Personally, I suspect that someone possessing advanced Tesla weaponry read my recent piece titled "Homesick" and decided to give me a taste of California.

Bella slept through it. Aren't dogs supposed to sense these things?

12 comments:

Inky said...

I felt the same earthquake, and I'm in NYC. I've been told it could be felt up and down the Eastern seaboard and as far inland as Cleveland!

I've no idea where the epicenter was, but here in NYC it was the same cute little thing you described.

Anonymous said...

They felt in Philly. Got a call from one of sons. He was able to get a call out to me but can't bring up my in-laws in the Philadelphia suburbs. They're saying the quake was felt in the Carolinas and in NYC. And MSNBC is saying they felt the quake in Detroit. Reporting a 5.9 at this point. Lots of cell phones out.

Peggy Sue

Anonymous said...

I was 10 miles from the epicenter of the Loma Prieta quake when it hit.

Anonymous said...

CNN seemed a bit hysterical from my Southern California perspective. Grounding airplanes? Sending people home from work? Uh, Okay. I ran a search and we (L.A. area) had a 5.9 on June 14, 2010. Do you remember it? Neither do I. I remember Sylmar, Whittier, Big Bear/Landers and Northridge. The rest of them were a big yawn.

Dogs are supposed to sense earthquakes, but they're far better at sensing when someone in the kitchen opens a package of hot dogs.

Peter of Lone Tree said...

Gaia/Sophia is just changing course.
Nothing to worry about.
Unless you're an archon.

Crusty said...

Joe you re spot on-- it's the structures (and don't even start to question the 150 year old sewer system and water mains)... I've heard it said that a 5.8 quake right on MLK Blvd (125th street, Manhattan... well Harlem, where Bill Clinton sits and eats vegans now) would be similar to an 8.5 in LA. There are actually at least 9 fault lines that run right through Manhattan. And some of the fancier parts of town (Battery Park, for example) are on nothing but landfill. Its said that over 35% of Manhattan is landfill. And guess what? When landfill surrounded by water gets hit with a 5 or "8" earthquake... it's called Jellification. The ground becomes jello and the only thing left holding up the condos are copper wire and PVC piping... very ugly. East Coast can not handle earthquakes...

Bob Harrison said...

We felt it down here in Deliverance country. btw Left Coast & Right Coast geology are two different animals. CAL has more fault lines to dissipate the energy. The East has far fewer so the energy is mostly expended by unfaulted land mass.

prowlerzee said...

I felt it in Boston! And called home...my friend did not feel it 8 miles away nor did my dog!

Perry Logan said...

Here in Austin, we didn't feel a thing. We're too busy frying global-warming deniers on the sidewalk.

Bob Harrison said...

LOL@Perry frying folks!

krusty the Mantle said...

Well climate change doesn't really exist (all existence is Maya, right? well for Buddhas, Seeks and Hindus anyway) nor does Bella really exist.

But according to FoxDC the animals in the National Zoo were tipped off http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/offbeat/national-zoo-animals-warned-early-of-quake-082411 apparently it was the Red Ruffed Lemur who sounded the alarm(!) maybe Bella just doesn't listen to strepsirrhine alarmism.

Gus said...

Yeah, felt it here in central PA. A very big yawn from me, while people around me were freaking out and evacuating buildings. I was in Simi Valley for the Northridge quake......not THAT was an earthquake (I was sleeping on the floor at the time and was nearly killed by a falling large wooden wardrobe). By the time I realized this one was an earthquake it was already over. I shrugged my shoulders and continued working.