5.8 earthquake in richmond Virginia 10 minutes ago!

[Razi]

[Dattebayo]

The drywall ceiling is all cracked in the living room and I was on the phone with a client from CA and he was shocked enough to disbelieve me and think i was trying to get off the phone with him by using an excuse. Oh well, he'll read the news just like everyone else.

I heard there was some pretty bad damage on the I-495 hotlane construction down in Tyson's Corner...

[alms24sebring]

[Dattebayo]

[Bubba1]

Earthquake? na, that was Nala getting laid...........

Can't be Nala. The collective impact of jaws dropping and people fainting from hearing that kinda news would have been at least a 7.8 earthquake.

[timay]

Felt up here in Connecticut, actually watched my work van rocking. Was sitting inside a place waiting for some parts, and I thought I was about faint and that I was shaking, it was actually the building shaking.

In the back was a shop, one guy watched as his 15,000 pound capacity forklift was just shaking.

Weird, interesting feeling to say the least.

[frapjap]

That's what she said.

I'd like to meet her

[frapjap]

[themadscientist]

Update 3:24 p.m.: Amtrak has said to expect delays

How is this different from any other day?

[danshaz82]

[alms24sebring]

Update 3:24 p.m.: Amtrak has said to expect delays

How is this different from any other day?

Oh god. Its pure hell on the weekends. The Metro expects atleast a 20 min delay every weekend, for every train, for "track maintenance". Its allll the time is the problem

[AZhitman]

CNN is now reporting that the death toll from today's quake has reached zero.

[alms24sebring]

Estonishing! When will the suffering end?!

Speaking of EQ, how is Japan doing?

[audtatious]

DC quake survivor walks across Delaware river with food essentials for his family

[alms24sebring]

OMG!!

[Chris28]

LOL at all of the memes. Felt it here in Raleigh NC. I even stopped playing Forza to walk outside and see the trees swaying back and forth.

[Jesda]

DC quake survivor walks across Delaware river with food essentials for his family

[themadscientist]

D.C.
Shake, then bake.

[themadscientist]

Watch behind them.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ct0AVYi-OY[/youtube]

[hannibal]

I work in a freaking basement. My monitors started moving and the floor was shaking. Ran to the doorway and felt another tremor. Grabbed my stuff and bounced!

I thought it was something man made at first. Once I got outside and realized it was just a quake, my heartbeat returned.

Heard reports of a crack in the Washington Monument. I think it's leaning too...

Metro trains were running at 15mph. Took forever to get out of downtown.

[DamonDread]

scientists have just confirmed the cause of the earthquake - it was our founding fathers rolling over in their graves.

[szh]

Yikes.

They are not prepared for these on the East Coast - hope all is well.

Z

Eh, better prepared than most of SF

Houses and buildings in California and Oregon follow earthquake protection design requirements that are not used on the East Coast.

A 5.9 quake would not damage much here - even the almost 7 quake (remember the Richter scale is not simple linear) did not hurt any modern buildings.

Z

[szh]

Sorry to be geeky ... but it is a non-linear scale. 6.0 is indeed slightly perceptibly higher than 5.9 ... only when comparing, of course! On an absolute scale, it probably does not matter much.

Z

[Encryptshun]

Sorry to be geeky ... but it is a non-linear scale. 6.0 is indeed slightly perceptibly higher than 5.9 ... only when comparing, of course! On an absolute scale, it probably does not matter much.

Z

APPROVES

[numbnuts240]

i didn't feel s***. i'm calling shens.

[95zenki man]

Down here in NC it was pretty bad....I was on a 12ft ladder working when it hit down here. talk about scary...i jumped off the ladder and ran to the door.

[alms24sebring]

I was wondering is the Pencil would suffer any damage. Also I would've loved to see how far back and forth that moved. I think I would have s*** if I was up there and my height..japhobia kicked in.

Szh, we actually did the math in my calc class today for fun to see how much energy it released. We also compared the 5.9 Va and the 8.9 Japanese EQ's and saw that the japanese one was something like 45,000 times more powerful than ours.

[themadscientist]

It's great that the thing didn't do much harm and we get some great meme fodder, but it's worth considering the potential for disaster. There are nuclear reactors in this area. Remember Fukushima?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... story.html

The two nuclear power reactors in North Anna, Va., were cooling off Wednesday after being shut down by Tuesday’s earthquake, but the debate about what lessons should be learned for nuclear safety was still simmering.

Now, the good news is the while the backup system did not function flawlessly, they did work. Hopefully this less than stellar performance will light a fire under some asses to take it a bit more seriously.

Dominion Resources, owner of the reactors, said that its safety procedures worked. When three shaken transformers tripped like circuit breakers, four locomotive-size diesel generators kicked in. When one of those generators sprang a radiator water leak, another backup generator was turned on.

Let's hope "good enough" is not the tack the industry will take going forward.

“We were really close here,” Macfarlane said. “Some would say that’s evidence of us getting it right, but I would say that we’re really pushing the envelope. With something like a nuclear reactor, I would like a large safety margin.”

Of course, she added, “a larger safety margin entails higher costs,” and the nuclear power industry doesn’t like that.

If these bad boys pop, the plume is not pretty and blows across my old stomping ground.




If you want to scare the s*** out of yourself which has become the fastest growing American sport this is a great resource.
http://www.nuclearpowerdanger.com/plume ... es-6mi.php

[alms24sebring]

I love the smell of radiation poisoning in the morning

The are making Tshirts about this already coooorny

But the one I like says " I survived the earthquake *crossed out* Hurricane Irene" I wouldnt wear it tho.

[themadscientist]

I'm embarrassed as an east coast guy at the level of b****-up displayed by my fellow citizens. I know they don't get quakes that much so the initial shock is understandable, but to continue to walk around shell shocked as if you were actually in danger is asinine and weak.