# Did you feel the quake and where are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807 "2011-08-23T18:27:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/61 "2011-08-23T20:26:47Z")
I’m amazed that some of you felt it from hundreds of miles away (Niagara Falls, Albany, Queens). My mother was in line at a store in southern Connecticut and didn’t notice it but another woman in line did. 5.9 magnitude isn’t _that_ strong. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/62 "2011-08-23T20:42:50Z")
I don’t tweet, either, KtK, but that was on a lot of the articles about it. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’m amazed that some of you felt it from hundreds of miles away (Niagara Falls, Albany, Queens). My mother was in line at a store in southern Connecticut and didn’t notice it but another woman in line did. 5.9 magnitude isn’t _that_ strong. Maybe we’re on a fault line or something. They felt it in Troy, but some other local towns didn’t feel it at all. It’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/63 "2011-08-23T21:11:05Z")
Ann Arbor, MI. My office mate felt it, although I did not. I checked the time, and it was 1:54 pm. Wikipedia says Earthquake waves travel at 2 to 8 km/s, so that’s consistent with the upper end of that range and the 1:51 time that CNN is reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/64 "2011-08-23T21:11:32Z")
At work at Nashville, International. No shaking here. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/65 "2011-08-23T21:12:35Z")
I’m in Baltimore, MD. Felt (and saw) wobbling where I work. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/66 "2011-08-23T21:20:09Z")
A friend felt it on the second floor of a tall building in Binghamton (presumably at the university, where he teaches). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/67 "2011-08-23T21:21:37Z")
BTW, [here](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/se/082311a/us/form.en.disabled.html)’s a link to the USGS website where you can report that you felt the quake and report any damage that occurred. (The link is specific to that particular earthquake.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/68 "2011-08-23T21:37:30Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > It kind of felt like one of those vibrating chairs in nail salons, but without the sound. By the time my brain connected what I was feeling to the word ‘earthquake’ it was over. Well, I was driving on the freeway at the time of the quake. I have no idea if that could have mitigated the feeling of it. On recollection there was this moment where the car ahead of me braked, I braked, and the road seemed… off. It felt like my tires were skidding over the surface of the road instead of grabbing it. At first I thought something was wrong with my brakes, but the road there was kind of bumpy and and it was only for a few seconds, then smooth sailing again. I decided it was something wrong with the road surface. Could that have been it? ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/69 "2011-08-23T21:41:35Z")
Didn’t feel a damned thing. Germany. Okay, that’s not true. I’m a Virginia girl, and I feel mild outrage that nothing like this ever happened when I lived there. grrrrrr … ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/70 "2011-08-23T21:53:36Z")
Right on the New Madrid fault and I am damn glad I didn’t feel it. The local news will do about 10 stories on earthquake prepare-ness for the next week. sigh. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/71 "2011-08-23T21:57:39Z")
Felt strong shaking inside a building in Germantown, MD ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/72 "2011-08-23T22:02:01Z")
New Mexico resident here. What’s an earthquake? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/73 "2011-08-23T22:16:28Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > Didn’t feel a damned thing. Germany. > > Okay, that’s not true. I’m a Virginia girl, and I feel mild outrage that nothing like this ever happened when I lived there. grrrrrr … It’s such a big deal, too. They interrupted _The People’s Court_ and everything. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/74 "2011-08-23T22:20:57Z")
Yes, SF Bay Area. But I doubt if it’s the same quake. Probably another fault. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/75 "2011-08-23T22:25:28Z")
Pittsburgh. I felt it, and it felt just like a small earthquake I had experienced when I was living in California. I said to myself, “but that can’t be an earthquake, that’s crazy”. Then I found out it _was_ an earthquake. ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/76 "2011-08-23T22:26:55Z")
Baltimore, MD, and felt the shaking, had glasses rattling around for a spell. Followed by my dog rolling on the ground and growling at the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/77 "2011-08-23T22:32:59Z")
Middle TN, no shaking here. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/78 "2011-08-23T22:44:03Z")
One of the few times I can say…Los Angeles, CA and I didn’t feel the earthquake. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/79 "2011-08-23T22:45:53Z")
Southern CT and yes, though I didn’t realize it until my husband (who was in NYC) texted me to ask if I felt it. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807/80 "2011-08-23T22:49:33Z")
Somerville, MA. Didn’t even know there was a quake until someone else said something to me on Google Talk. The shocks seem kind of hit or miss; a friend at work near Cambridge Center said they were a little wobbly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-feel-the-quake-and-where-are-you/593807.md?page=5)