# Did we just have an earthquake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803 "2011-08-23T17:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/21 "2011-08-23T18:07:11Z")
[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/at00lqe6x3.php#details](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/at00lqe6x3.php#details) ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/22 "2011-08-23T18:07:13Z")
\*\*USGS [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/) Prelim info: 5.8 in Viriginia. My notes: 30 Secs of rolling action in Phila, PA area.\*\* . ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/23 "2011-08-23T18:07:46Z")
[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/32.42.-85.-75.php](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/32.42.-85.-75.php) Initial intensity 5.8. Interestingly, there was another in the 5 range near the CO-NM border today, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/24 "2011-08-23T18:07:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > We felt it in Manhattan, too. It wasn’t that different from what you feel when a subway train passes right underneath you. My point here was that I don’t work anywhere near the ground floor, so feeling it in a tall building was more than a little strange. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/25 "2011-08-23T18:08:08Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > Felt it in Boston about 10 minutes ago. Really? I didn’t feel a thing. But a friend in PA e-mailed me to say that her whole office was shaking. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/26 "2011-08-23T18:08:16Z")
I’m in NC too! It woke me up! ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/27 "2011-08-23T18:09:30Z")
The previous record for this area was apparently 3.6 and this one is currently at 5.9. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/28 "2011-08-23T18:09:54Z")
Just outside Quantico here; thought it might’ve been a demolitions exercise at first. Scary stuff!! All my neighbors are outside sharing info as we can; no outgoing phone service, but some calls are coming in. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/29 "2011-08-23T18:10:03Z")
Me and all my FB friends felt it in Northeast Ohio. There’s a baseball game in downtown Cleveland ad the moment and they said on the radio that the press box was shaking. It lasted a long time, about 3 minutes! I have other reports from Pittsburgh, NC and NJ. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/30 "2011-08-23T18:10:22Z")
Columbus, OH. Quite noticeable, here. It rattled the windows of the house and made me feel a little dizzy for a second. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/31 "2011-08-23T18:11:36Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Felt it here in NC. This has never happened before Also noted here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as a few seconds of side-to-side motion. (I was on the 4th floor). Also the first time I’ve experienced one. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/32 "2011-08-23T18:12:02Z")
My first one. Nothing broken here except my earthquake cherry. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/33 "2011-08-23T18:12:09Z")
Celtling and I are OK. Scared, but OK. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/34 "2011-08-23T18:12:48Z")
Man, I lived in LA for years and never had one more than 4 something. A 5.9 quake is pretty damn big. I felt nothing down here in Charleston, SC though. So if it got to NC it didn’t make it down to the coast. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/35 "2011-08-23T18:13:32Z")
Washington DC here – and I was standing in a safety agency when it happened, so there’s a lot of professional interest here. And some wobbly legs – we’re on the 8th floor and there was definite swaying. **USGS has updated to a 5.9 magnitude, 83 miles from DC.** edit: cell phone network is busy/unavailable, no surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/36 "2011-08-23T18:14:09Z")
Yeah, that was fun! MD here, too - at first I thought it was just someone moving furniture or construction or something, and was ignoring it. Then I heard someone say, “What’s happening?” and I was like, “Hey, wait… what _is_ happening?” I hope my kid and my cat weren’t too freaked out. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/37 "2011-08-23T18:14:34Z")
In Chapel Hill too, on the 2nd floor. I didn’t know what was going on ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/38 "2011-08-23T18:14:51Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Me and all my FB friends felt it in Northeast Ohio. There’s a baseball game in downtown Cleveland ad the moment and they said on the radio that the press box was shaking. > > It lasted a long time, about 3 minutes! > > I have other reports from Pittsburgh, NC and NJ. **Three minutes**? What the hell is that ball park built on?! Springs?! :eek: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![neckred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5e9695/32.png) [@neckred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neckred)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/39 "2011-08-23T18:15:32Z")
Felt here in South Carolina too. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803/40 "2011-08-23T18:15:40Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > \*\*USGS [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/) > > Prelim info: 5.8 in Viriginia. > > My notes: 30 Secs of rolling action in Phila, PA area.\*\* > > . Why didn’t I feel it? 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-just-have-an-earthquake/593803.md?page=3)