Earthquake?

[DaffyKD]

Talked to my daughter this afternoon. She was at work on the 14th floor of a building in Boston. They felt some rocking. She said it was so mild she did not think anything about it while people were freaking out and running into the halls. One young man was panicking that they were going to get hit by a tsunami. Daughter said she was laughing and then gave lessons to everyone about the faults and ocean plates and explained why things were not going to be bad. One guy responded, "you're not afraid only because you come from CA where there happen everyday. Now, everyone lets get prepared for the tsunami like the one that hit Japan." She went back to her desk laughing harder.

DaffyKD

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It was felt in Detroit, but I didn't feel it. By my best estimate, I was in an elevator at the time so the minimal movement wasn't felt by me.

A sorority sister in DC had some pictures fall off of her wall and shatter but that is the extent of her damage. She was shaken up though (pun intended).

Ahh Dee the elevator! lol remembering your story from the other day

I was sitting at my desk. I just finished eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (I kept wondering, how come you refrigerate jelly but when it's PB&J you don't have to?) All of a sudden I felt like I was swaying, and it wasn't a normal dizzy spell. I took my glasses off and thought "OMG 30 years later and NOW I'm allergic to peanuts?" My co-worker/sis in law and I were texting and I said "BTW either we just had a small earthquake or I need tubes in my ears"... I have problems with my sinuses and ears. She texted back that the news said we felt one. I went crazy! Another co-worker said he thought he was dizzy too. A lot of people didn't feel anything. It was so weird.

And yes this is comparable to someone in Cali or Florida or wherever seeing snow for the first time. I was SO excited, but so grateful that it wasn't larger. That tiny amount that I felt made me feel weird all day. I can't imagine what anything bigger, or even in Japan, feels like.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

Ahh Dee the elevator! lol remembering your story from the other day

I was sitting at my desk. I just finished eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (I kept wondering, how come you refrigerate jelly but when it's PB&J you don't have to?) All of a sudden I felt like I was swaying, and it wasn't a normal dizzy spell. I took my glasses off and thought "OMG 30 years later and NOW I'm allergic to peanuts?" My co-worker/sis in law and I were texting and I said "BTW either we just had a small earthquake or I need tubes in my ears"... I have problems with my sinuses and ears. She texted back that the news said we felt one. I went crazy! Another co-worker said he thought he was dizzy too. A lot of people didn't feel anything. It was so weird.

And yes this is comparable to someone in Cali or Florida or wherever seeing snow for the first time. I was SO excited, but so grateful that it wasn't larger. That tiny amount that I felt made me feel weird all day. I can't imagine what anything bigger, or even in Japan, feels like.

We are waiting for the Tsunami to come through Lake Erie and hit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[LAblondeGPhi]

I moved to DC from LA a couple of months ago, and I had JUST gotten over thinking that every shake or window rattle was an earthquake. I must have mentioned a dozen times that our condo building couldn't possibly be built to Los Angeles codes because it rattles every time a bus goes by. That ledge of the Kennedy Center over Rock Creek Parkway? Terrifying to an Angeleno!

Ya, and when the ground started shaking? I was confused. CONFUSED! It couldn't possibly be an earthquake. No, I'd been made fun of for being a silly Californian too many times. Silly, paranoid Californians with our crazy 'earthquakes'.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

.. so I figured I was having a heart attack or something.

I find it humorous how seemingly casual you said this. But seriously, it wasn't a good feeling. I'd rather deal with a snowstorm anyday.

People were actually running out of my office building.. But I think part of that is because our building is practically falling down already. And as another poster mentioned, the buildings here on the east coast aren't built to withstand earthquakes.. If it ever gets any worse than it was today, you better believe I'll be running, too.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

It's not too different from when West Coasters flip out over a few snowflakes.

At 18, I saw my first flakes. I asked a guy passing by if there were any volcanoes around. It was a fairly warm winter day so my brain didn't comprehend "snow." I thought it was ash.

I'm kinda cracking up at the thought of all my east coast friends who pelted with with quake questions because they'd never felt one. Guess that's not true anymore. I'm glad their first was big enough to feel but not big enough to traumatize them all.

[carnation]

My husband's cousin, who's a genetic counselor in VA, feels like she just had her professional image shattered. As her couple sat in front of her and didn't move, the quake made her chair spin her around and around. Who knows what they were thinking while they watched her? LOL

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

At 18, I saw my first flakes. I asked a guy passing by if there were any volcanoes around. It was a fairly warm winter day so my brain didn't comprehend "snow." I thought it was ash.

At the start of my sophomore year of college, we had a dorm floor meeting so that our new freshman residents could get to know the upperclass (i.e. sophomore and up) residents, and vice versa. We each were asked to give our name, year, room number, intended or declared major, hometown, and something interesting about ourselves.

One of our new freshman residents said, "I'm Shiva, I'm a freshman, I'm in room ___, I'm from Trinidad, I want to study computer science, and I'm really looking forward to seeing snow." We upperclassfolks all laughed, because Boston had gotten 90" of snow the previous winter.

Fast forward to just before Thanksgiving break. Shiva came running out of the elevator, bumped into me in the hall, and said, "aephi alum! aephi alum! It's a snowstorm! My first ever snowstorm!" I went over to the window, looked out, turned to Shiva, and calmly explained, "Shiva, this is what we call a 'flurry'. The real snowstorms are yet to arrive."

And arrive they did ... I understand he hightailed it back to Trinidad the day he graduated.

</threadjack>

[Benzgirl]

The devistation has been posted: http://www.grist.org/list/2011-08-23...ast-earthquake

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

At 18, I saw my first flakes. I asked a guy passing by if there were any volcanoes around. It was a fairly warm winter day so my brain didn't comprehend "snow." I thought it was ash.

LOL! I'd seen tiny amounts of snow before I went to college, but I didn't see real snow--the kind that sticks around for a while--until the January of my freshman year. The novelty still hasn't worn off, almost 12 years later.

I've noticed a lot of West Coasters criticizing New Yorkers and Washingtonians for going outside. When I spoke to a friend who has lived here longer than I have, he pointed out that, after 9/11, people try to get OUT of a building until the cause of the problem is pinpointed. In light of the fact that the 10-year anniversary is close, people were a little bit more worried than usual.

[psusue]

I felt it in State College. I was sitting on the floor of the student center (the HUB) and I just thought it was the trash carts rolling by, because they always make the floor shake a little. The only odd part was that although I felt the shaking, I didn't hear any of the normal scraping noises. I didn't think anything of it until the other people around me were like "did you feel that", which of course I did, but I figured it was localized. Then somebody got a text about how another class building was shaking too. I then went onto facebook (which honestly in situations like this is way more up to date/relevant than like CNN or BBC world news) and saw statuses of friends all up and down the East coast talking about it. It was strange.

I was super nonchalant about it until I realized what exactly it was. It was so odd. I can't even imagine what I'd do in a real earthquake situation. I also realized that besides getting in a door frame, I have no idea what's even safe to do. Time to google it up.

[groovypq]

psusue, my sister's' in State College and felt it too!

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I find it humorous how seemingly casual you said this.

Only after the fact lol. At the time, I was trying to assess my situation and getting myself even more riled up. I nearly called 911 just in case.

[shirley1929]

I thought this article about how the animals at the National Zoo in DC acted strangely right before it happened.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...e=home_oneline

"Her name is Iris, and with her straight, elegant, red-orange hair she is beyond dispute the prettiest orangutan at the National Zoo. She’s calm, quiet, unflappable. “Iris lives the life of a queen,” says great-ape keeper Amanda Bania.

On Tuesday afternoon, the queen lost her cool.

It happened a little before 2 p.m. Primate keeper K.C. Braesch was standing just a few feet away when Iris emitted a loud, guttural cry, known to scientists as belch-vocalizing. Iris then scrambled to the top of her enclosure.

Braesch stepped back and scanned the enclosure to see what might have agitated the ape. Was it Kiko, the male? Although generally a lump, Kiko can turn into a hothead and throw things. But no, Kiko was lounging.

Then — all this had happened within about five seconds — Braesch felt the earthquake."

[shirley1929]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Animals tend to act strange before an earthquake and other things that they sense or feel before humans.

Example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MFzcl-kZHo

I've heard of it before and i find it so interesting. It's like when my dog starts shaking and hides in a closet 20 minutes before a big storm.

Never seen that video - thanks for sharing.