Earthquake?

[AOEforme]

The earthquake was in the middle of one of my exams and we had to keep taking it. Everyone looked up and the swaying building and just went back to work.

[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).

[groovypq]

Felt it in Central PA (about an hour 30 from State College, Kappamd). They evacuated all of the buildings on campus til they could check for structural damage.

[txAOII_15]

felt it in west philly. have some shattered picture frames and some stuff that fell off the wall but that's about it.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I'm reading online that there are no reports of any injuries yet.

I must say, that was a very weird experience. I started feeling light-headed.. I have a hanger on my cubicle, and it started swinging back and forth. I thought I was going crazy. Then I saw my water shifting in the bottle on my desk.. When the floor was clearly shaking, people were out of their chairs and evacuating.

Originally Posted by Ch2tf

Same here. At first I thought I was just getting dizzy (I've had boughts of vertigo in the past). Then I noticed I was rocking in my chair, my cube walls were moving, and the lights were shaking. I still feel kinda nauseous/like an episode of vertigo just passed.

I thought it was my heart beating strongly (kinda like when you're cooling down from a workout), so I figured I was having a heart attack or something. I would have called 911 had I not realized everything was jiggling...window shades, bookshelves, etc. at which point I figured it was road work or a big truck passing by. I had no idea there was an earthquake until I saw an FB post about it.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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'.

[Benzgirl]

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

[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!

[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."

[crosscaravan]

That video is amazing!

That said, my geology teacher is going to have a field day with this when we meet up for class today. She starts every class by pulling up a chart of seismic activity, and our last class was before the VA earthquake!