5.9 Earthquake in Virginia US.

[HurrMark]

Felt it here in Boston...

[summersquall]

The depth seems extemely shallow. Any experts here?

Depth: 1 km (~0.6 mile) (poorly constrained)
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 005ild.php

Just caught an update that the depth was 4.6 miles.

Update at 2:26 p.m. ET: The USGS says the quake was centered at a depth of 4.6 miles.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... -dc-area/1

Makes more sense now. And, relativelt shalow quakes are felt at greater distances

[Andy_L]

felt it here in Ottawa...about 480 NM away

[ROCK]

Felt it here in NYC just east of Manhattan. Chairs shook and overhead lights swayed here in Long Island city, Queens. Have gotten calls that shaking was pretty strong in Manhattan.

I need to pull a map of fault lines I used to have....New Madrid fault is way west Memphis area but I know it has some superficial faults branching off of it.

BTW- thank goodness it wasnt the NM...if that puppy goes it aint going to be pretty....just sayin...

[RobWESTPACWX]

very shallow for a quake that size..probably why it was felt all the way to Canada.....enough to jack with some foundations / basements I am sure.

Report out of NYC DT is that cell phone service is down in Manhatten...people out on the streets...bad place to be right now...

You know phone service is probably down not due to the quake though, its because everyone is calling people to talk about the quake and the server is being over loaded.

Also from what I see no serious damage is really being reported as of yet, really does not looks like this will be anything more than just a scare and that may or less be the problem if people start to panic.

Also any aftershocks would be from 2.0 to 4.0, and that is nothing note worthy.. So good news there.

Hope no news of anything serious does come in though...

Any how not to say its not that bad, but at least there is not a 40ft Tsunami headed towards your home.

[kamqercam]

Where is the model page for aftershocks?

[ROCK]

very shallow for a quake that size..probably why it was felt all the way to Canada.....enough to jack with some foundations / basements I am sure.

Report out of NYC DT is that cell phone service is down in Manhatten...people out on the streets...bad place to be right now...

You know phone service is probably down not due to the quake though, its because everyone is calling people to talk about the quake and the server is being over loaded.

Also from what I see no damage is really being reported as of yet, really does not looks like this will be anything more than just a scare and that may or less be the problem if people start to panic.

Any how not to say its not that bad, but at least there is not a 40ft Tsunami headed towards your home.

yeah you have a point.. .my collegues up in Manhatten cant call out but land lines are fine...

[JPmia]

How about this: I did not feel it here in Ft. Lauderdale.

[StormGuy]

At least this gives us something else to talk about besides the hurricane. How about the potential of an earthquake and a hurricane hitting Virginia within a week.

[kamqercam]

I never knew going bat crazy from an Earthquake could be so much fun!

[WxEnthus]

Felt it in the southwest portion of VA, I was sitting in an enclosed porch and my chair swayed back & forth for a few seconds and I asked my family, "Wow, did anyone feel that?" and then looked on the USGS earthquake map and saw the report. Any of you who felt it can go report it on the form on the USGS website, it helps with their data.

The Pentagon has apparently been deemed safe for re-occupation.

Cell phones were out here for a few minutes, too, but they are back now. Not a big shaker here, but I gotta say that was a few scary minutes, seeing the big red square on the map in my home state and then reading reports of the government offices being evacuated. I'm taking a deep breath now, whew.

Oh, almost forgot, about 10 minutes after the first one I think I felt a much smaller second one, an aftershock perhaps. This hasn't shown on the USGS map yet, so it may just be my nerves. Crazy how it seems it was worse up near NYC than here, I wonder if we have a geologist on board that can explain that one...

[WxEnthus]

At least this gives us something else to talk about besides the hurricane. How about the potential of an earthquake and a hurricane hitting Virginia within a week.

When my sister learned of the quake she said, "Great, so far this year Virginia's had blizzards, tornadoes, earthquakes, so now we're just missing a hurricane -- oh, wait..."

[SouthFloridawx]

Another smaller quake in the same place...

Earthquake Details

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude
2.8
Date-Time
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 18:46:50 UTC
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 02:46:50 PM at epicenter
Location
37.931°N, 77.935°W
Depth
0.1 km (~0.1 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region
VIRGINIA
Distances
9 km (5 miles) SSW (195°) from Mineral, VA
12 km (7 miles) SSE (151°) from Louisa, VA
28 km (18 miles) NE (45°) from Columbia, VA
34 km (21 miles) E (88°) from Lake Monticello, VA
60 km (38 miles) NW (316°) from Richmond, VA
136 km (84 miles) SW (217°) from Washington, DC
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 2.4 km (1.5 miles); depth +/- 5.3 km (3.3 miles)
Parameters
NST= 10, Nph= 12, Dmin=53 km, Rmss=0.16 sec, Gp= 97°,
M-type=duration magnitude (Md), Version=A
Source
Southeast U.S. Seismic Network
Event ID
se082311b

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/se082311b.php

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Well, I wait for years to feel an earthquake, and I miss it! Didn't feel a thing while driving up the George Washington Parkway. I wonder if it was because that's a rocky area next to the Potomac River, so transmission of the wave was less palpable. When I returned down the Parkway to DC is when I saw everyone outside the buildings and found out it was a 5.9! My spouse near Georgetown called to say his six floor brick building started trembling, and then the walls were moving and he immediately knew what it was and vacated. As did all of DC and NOVA I might add. Going to research the fault lines from Mineral VA.

I'll keep you posted if there are any substantial aftershocks. Lets hope not.
-WLD

This is not a wishcast nor forecast of future events.

[summersquall]

2.8 aftershock reported at same location
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 82311b.php

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 02:46:50 PM at epicenter

9 km (5 miles) SSW (195°) from Mineral, VA
12 km (7 miles) SSE (151°) from Louisa, VA
28 km (18 miles) NE (45°) from Columbia, VA
60 km (38 miles) NW (316°) from Richmond, VA
136 km (84 miles) SW (217°) from Washington, DC

[SouthFloridawx]

Magnitude 2.2 - VIRGINIA
2011 August 23 19:20:26 UTC

Details
Maps
Earthquake Details

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude
2.2
Date-Time
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 19:20:26 UTC
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 03:20:26 PM at epicenter
Location
37.911°N, 78.004°W
Depth
0.1 km (~0.1 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region
VIRGINIA
Distances
13 km (8 miles) S (181°) from Louisa, VA
13 km (8 miles) SW (218°) from Mineral, VA
22 km (14 miles) NE (38°) from Columbia, VA
28 km (18 miles) E (91°) from Lake Monticello, VA
63 km (39 miles) NW (311°) from Richmond, VA
141 km (88 miles) SW (218°) from Washington, DC
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 2 km (1.2 miles); depth +/- 5.6 km (3.5 miles)
Parameters
NST= 5, Nph= 7, Dmin=56 km, Rmss=0.1 sec, Gp=173°,
M-type=duration magnitude (Md), Version=A
Source
Southeast U.S. Seismic Network
Event ID
se082311c

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/se082311c.php

[Cyclenall]

I was watching the near-Libyan revolution on CNN when it supposedly occurred. I didn't feel a single thing and neither did anyone else. The message popped up on the screen saying a 5.8 and then later 5.9. I wonder if it has anything to do with the earthquake that hit Colorado earlier today. Is it possible these are foreshocks to something much larger like the New Madrid faultline or are they too far away?

As if we didn't have enough going on at once, here in Canada too.

[NC George]

Pretty sure it had nothing to do with the Colorado earthquake. I just heard on CNN that if it were a foreshock, the bigger earthquake probably would have happened within an hour, so the 5.8 was probably the main event.

[angelwing]

Nothing like sitting at your desk in work and your chair all of a sudden rolls and your whole building shakes
Left NJ to go to my job in Philly and the traffic was horrific! Called the hubby and he said he felt it in Lansdale too!

[WeatherLovingDoc]

From Geology Division of Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy:

"The exact mechanisms of Virginia’s earthquakes are not clearly understood. The Piedmont has been assembled piece-by-piece through geologic time and it is laced with numerous faults of varying ages. Residual stress may cause these faults to reactivate on occasion, but patterns are unclear. The New River/Giles County seismic zone may be associated with the Narrows Fault, the Saltville Fault, and/or an extension of the Holston Valley Fault, or all three. These faults trend toward eastern Tennessee, which is one of the most seismically active areas in the continental U.S."

http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DMR3/earthquakes.shtml

Interesting what is written about "if a 5.9 or above were to happen today" states-given past history of same in 1897 in Petersburg, VA. Apparently buildings are sounder than credited or, we were just lucky.

Additionally, our Virginia North Anna Nuclear Power Plant automatically shut down AND: it is built on a fault line.

Lastly: "A spokesman for Washington National Cathedral says at least three of the four pinnacles on the central tower have fallen off and the central tower appears to be leaning".

-WLD