# OMG!! Did You Feel That?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 28, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263 "2001-02-28T19:34:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chrome\_Toaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Chrome\_Toaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chrome_Toaster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/1 "2001-02-28T19:34:13Z")
All you Puget Sound Dopers! That was the biggest earthquake I have ever felt!! The UPS guy was across the street, and you should have seen his truck, swaggering back and forth! It shook pictrues off my walls, knocked over candles, and scared the Little Toaster! (she’s still jumping around excitedly.) NWCN says that the 6.2 quake was felt as far away as Salt Lake City! Wild, man, wild! ---
**Author:** ![Cheese\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cheese\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheese_Head)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/2 "2001-02-28T19:41:40Z")
Ahh, the good old Midwest, where we don’t have many earthquakes, mudslides, no tidal waves, no volcanos. So nice and stable. Hope you are ok over there in the North West. [http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/breaking/Earthquakes\_and\_Seismology/](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/breaking/Earthquakes_and_Seismology/) Quake Rattles Seattle for 45 Seconds (Reuters) - A strong earthquake struck Seattle on Wednesday at about 10:55 a.m. PST, rattling buildings and forcing the evacuation of high rise offices in parts of the downtown, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries in the quake that lasted 45 seconds. CBS radio said the quakes measured 6.2 and was centered about 30 miles from the city. ---
**Author:** ![Chrome\_Toaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Chrome\_Toaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chrome_Toaster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/3 "2001-02-28T20:00:18Z")
[qoute]Quake Rattles Seattle for 45 Seconds [/quote] Aha! As I posted in lurkernomore’s earthquake thread: on Northwest Cable News a reporter said that the tremblor lasted about 15 seconds, and I **really** thought it was of longer duration than that! But then again, I thought maybe my mind was just distorting time, as it does once in a while. The last quake I remember feeling was in the summer of '99, and it was a mild little baby compared to this one. (The epicenter of that one was just across Puget Sound from me.) This has certainly made for an interesting day. Nice and stable the MidWest may be, but don’t you long for some excitememt now and then? I lived in Ohio for a time, and boy, nothing ever happened there that made me say “Wow!” Maybe that’s a good thing, though. JW ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/4 "2001-02-28T20:05:53Z")
Just think how much money could have been saved if they had held off imploding the Kingdome for a couple more weeks… ---
**Author:** ![Cheese\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cheese\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheese_Head)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/5 "2001-03-01T14:42:16Z")
Allah has spoken. Sadaam Hussein and Iraq have gotten the revenge they promised against the American infidels. I didn’t know they lived in Seattle, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/6 "2001-03-01T15:04:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Ahh, the good old Midwest, where we don’t have many earthquakes, mudslides, no tidal waves, no volcanos. So nice and stable. Don’t be so sure. Ever hear of the [New Madrid earthquake](http://www.cusec.org/madzone.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/7 "2001-03-01T15:08:04Z")
Oops, missed that. Of course, since the New Madrid fault hasn’t moved for such a long time, when it finally does the resulting quake should be bigger than Seattle’s. ---
**Author:** ![Cheese\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cheese\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheese_Head)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/8 "2001-03-01T15:12:45Z")
Yes, I know St. Louis and Memphis will be wiped out with the next big New Madrid quake. That’s why I said the MV does not have “many quakes” instead of “no quakes”. The rest of the MW is on solid ground. The West coast has more quakes, but they are better prepared for it. Potentially, anywhere in the US could have a bad quake, including Chicago and NY. In fact, there was a movie about a killer quake in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/9 "2001-03-01T15:30:19Z")
NYC is built on a crosshatch of minor fault lines. They’ve had a few quakes which barely registered on the richter scale. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/10 "2001-03-01T18:58:45Z")
It’s funny, I was born in Seattle and spent about half my childhood there (68-73, 74-77, 82-84) and during those years I never felt a single earthquake. I remember a couple of times my Dad asking me if I felt the quake last night, but (ah, blissful childhood) I slept like a rock in those days. The first earthquake I ever felt was here in NYC in 85. My family was visiting cousins in Brooklyn and I had to sleep on the sofa. I wake up in the middle of the night, house shaking, tchochkes jumping around and I think, “Oh, must be a really big truck - must suck to have those going through your neighborhood.” The next day we found out it was a quake - I think somewhere around 4.2. Now, after every major earthquake, the Times or New York magazine runs a what-if-it-happened-here? article. I’m always pleased to see that the ground underneath my building _won’t_ liquefy (like Seattle and SF, much of Manhattan is built on fill - plus underground creeks criss-cross the whole island). And I’m _sure_ that a masonry building constructed of (a) mid-19th century brick walls, (b) a 1970 glazed-brick facade, © 1970 rebuilt floors, so thin you can hear your upstairs neighbor sneeze (no joke! and I can hear my downstairs neighbor’s coughing fits), will be just fine. Just…fine… I mean, having four floors of apartments crash down on you is fine, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/11 "2001-03-01T21:16:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChiefScott \* > \*\*Just think how much money could have been saved if they had held off imploding the Kingdome for a couple more weeks… \*\* Chief: They would have had to have waited 11 months as [The Kingdome was imploded last March](http://www.geophys.washington.edu/USGS/DOCS/ships.html) Cheese Head: Any tornadoes lately? ---
**Author:** ![SpinneZiege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SpinneZiege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpinneZiege)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/12 "2001-03-01T21:39:11Z")
I might as well tell yinz about the one we had around my area a while back. I was joggin at the time and didn’t even notice it happening (It was only, like , 2.7 on the scale). But my friends had an interesting experience. Joe was at his house in southern New York state. Fab was at his house in northwest Pennsylvania. Their houses are maybe sixty mile apart. They were on the phone when it happened… > [@](#): > > Joe: Woah. My house is shaking! > > Fab: Yeah, right. An earthquake in _your_ town? > > [background: Joe’s parents asking him if the hot water heater exploded] > > Fab: Woah! Now my house is shaking! > > Joe: See, I told you! ---
**Author:** ![AETBOND417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@AETBOND417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AETBOND417)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/13 "2001-03-02T02:29:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*NYC is built on a crosshatch of minor fault lines. They’ve had a few quakes which barely registered on the richter scale. \*\* While playing Trivial Pursuit, I received the question “Which U.S. city receives the most earthquakes annually.” I jokingly replied NYC, the correct answer. Either my memory is really hazy, or the game is wrong. Our version is wrong often, so this wouldn’t be a surprise. It was printed when either Ford or Carter was president. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/14 "2001-03-02T02:46:54Z")
A 2.7 and they’re worried about the water heater, **Spinne**?..sheesh. East coasters :rolleyes: You know, 15 seconds is a long time during an earthquake, I can’t imagine 45. ---
**Author:** ![71-Hour\_Achmed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/57b2e6/32.png) [@71-Hour\_Achmed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/71-Hour_Achmed)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/15 "2001-03-02T04:06:20Z")
I didn’t think it was all that bad. Nobody I know had any damage to their own houses, although a couple of them know neighbors whose (ancient) chimneys lost some bricks or fell over. ---
**Author:** ![SpinneZiege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SpinneZiege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpinneZiege)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-did-you-feel-that/56263/16 "2001-03-02T14:38:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*A 2.7 and they’re worried about the water heater, **Spinne**?..sheesh. East coasters :rolleyes: > > You know, 15 seconds is a long time during an earthquake, I can’t imagine 45. \*\* **Neuro** , you do have to take into account that quakes happen around here about once every fifteen years. Fab & Joe were still in diapers when the last one hit, for cryin’ out loud!