5.9 US east coast quake

[Dr Mordrid]

Centered in Virginia, we felt it in Michigan and so did our friends in Windsor, Ontario. TV reports that the Washington Monument may be tilting.

AP wire -

Washington -- A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt as far north as Detroit, Rhode Island and New York City.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. The quake was in Mineral, Va., in Louisa County.

[Elie]

I was in a meeting room in Toronto when the quake occurred, I felt everything... WOW my first time ever.

[degrub]

What happened ? Congress compromise ?
or is the devil coming for his own ?

[degrub]

Let's see. an earthquake today, a hurricane in about 5 days,.....maybe congress will get the hint ?

Wonder what else we can throw at them ?

[Elie]

degrub, hehe....what does congress have to do with naturally occurring tectonic plate movements and severe weather patterns?

[Jammrock]

My sister-in-law's house is 15 miles from the epicenter. No known damage to the house or the family, just some stuff falling from the shake.

Anyone know what kind of quake yet?

Some people around Charlotte felt it, but I didn't feel it at work and my wife didn't feel it at home. At least we didn't realize it.

[degrub]

well, recent history might show that they all are disasters ?

[Elie]

I agree hehe!

[Evildead666]

3.7km is very shallow for a quake.
Its the shallow ones that give the most damage usually.

good to hear that no real damage was incurred.

The Washington monument, is that the large (Phallic) pointy thing like we have here at Place de la Concorde ?

[Dr Mordrid]

Yes, and fortunately it didn't suffer damage - probably the cop who reported it was still tilted from the quake himself. The Washington Monument obelisk resembles those in Egypt and was designed during a period called the Egyptian Revival. Even St. Petersburg has an obelisk from this period. Ditto Place de la Concorde.

[Evildead666]

Obelisk, that was the word I couldn't find.

[High_Jumbllama]

Freaked a few people out. Buildings emptied. Thought initially something might be wrong with the building. Never felt a quake before. Emptied the building. Saw neighboring buildings do the same. Went back in a short time later.

California is probably laughing at us.

[Dr Mordrid]

Sounds like the Washington Monument did sustain some damage - a chopper flew around it and reported some cracks near the top.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/earthquake-aftermath-national-monuments-damaged/story?id=14368908

and....

Nuclear expert and physicist Dr. Michio Kaku told ABC News that the reason the East Coast earthquake was felt so far and wide is that there is a huge difference between the east and west coast topography. On the West Coast, tectonic plates are fragmented, so the energy is local and more concentrated – which is not the case on the east coast.

"We have the North American plate and so it rocks as one unit. Energy is scattered all the way to Canada for example," he said.

Kaku also warned that he feels that the East Coast dodged a bullet with Tuesday's earthquake, and should see it as a wake-up call.

"We have to prepare our building codes for the once in a century earthquake, we are not prepared at all," he said. "Our buildings don't sway like those in California and Japan. Our buildings would collapse if we had a major earthquake in Manhattan."

[Brian Ellis]

Nuclear expert and physicist Dr. Michio Kaku

I would have thought the opinion of a seismologist would be more valuable than that of a theoretical physicist who pretends to know everything:

• MARS Updates Including The Curiosity Rover, The Flow of Liquid Water and Possible Manned Missions
• Has the Brain Drain of Top Scientists Caused the US to Lose Its Edge?
• What Killed the Dinosaurs? The Mystery Continues to Deepen…
• Dr. Kaku Attending the LIVE Panel Discussion for Transcendent Man - A Conversation About the Future and How You Can Participate
• Preparing for the 100 Year Storm and Wondering if the Three Simultaneous Nuclear Crises are an Accident? (Part 2/2)
• United States Hit With a Triple Nuclear Threat - How Dangerous is it? (Part 1/2)
• The Ancient Greeks and the First Total Lunar Eclipse of 2011
• Three-Month Update of Fukushima Accident and the Flood of New Information Coming Out
• Physicists Discover New Forms of Matter & Add to the Periodic Table
• We Will Become Like the Gods We Once Feared

[Brian Ellis]

Obelisk, that was the word I couldn't find.

Not to be confused with Obelix, a much rounder shape and unlikely to crack in a quake!