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5.8 Earthquake Hits East Coast of the US

Posted by Unknown on from the god-punishing-congress-for-budget dept.

At 1:51 p.m. EDT a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit Virginia (map of reported tremors). Reports indicate it was felt along most of the east coast (my monitor and floor definitely wobbled a bit down here in Raleigh NC) with reported evacuations of government buildings at least in DC. QuantumPion noted that the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station is located only a few miles from the epicenter, and the NRC has confirmed the plant automatically shut down with no apparent damage. For folks who like that sort of thing, there is a hashtag on Twitter, and the WSJ has a page with live updates on the situation.

11 of 614 comments (clear)

  1. HOW THE HELL? by The+Dawn+Of+Time · · Score: 5, Funny

    How did this make Slashdot already? Nothing makes this site for weeks.

    1. Re:HOW THE HELL? by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is actually talking about a 1997 earthquake.

  2. Felt it here - Bewildering by displague · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I felt it in Southern New Jersey. Everyone was dumb founded for a little while - "Whose shaking the cubicle wall?" Then everyone ended up outside with no cell service. After a few minutes we all hit the web and that was also saturated. Natural disaster practice test.

    --
    Marques Johansson
    1. Re:Felt it here - Bewildering by LurkerXXX · · Score: 4, Informative

      Um, No.

      The place to go is: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

      They had it the epicenter mapped within a few seconds of me feeling the shaking. It's kinda what they do.

      You can contribute info by filling out their online survey:

      http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/

      And you can sign up for notifications at:

      https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/

  3. Pictures of Devestation by pctainto · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pretty serious: http://jmckinley.posterous.com/dc-earthquake-devastation

    --
    I think my principles are reachin' an all time low
    1. Re:Pictures of Devestation by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

      You should see what it did to Detroit.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  4. Because of the geology by wiredog · · Score: 5, Informative

    Earthquakes in the eastern US are felt over a much wider area than those in the western US. It's one big plate, so an earthquake anywhere is felt all across it. Like hitting a pipe with a hammer.

    In the west the plates are broken up by many faults, which absorb the energy release.

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
    1. Re:Because of the geology by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Funny

      Like hitting a pipe with a hammer.

      I think what you meant to say was that it was like pushing on the frame of the car as opposed to pushing on an open door. You're on slashdot, a little earthquake is no excuse to go using a metaphor that doesn't involve cars.

  5. Re:M5.9 now, looks like it was revised. by adonoman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like that it's listed at a depth of 1km, with an uncertainty of +/- 7.4 km... I really hate those sky-quakes.

  6. Reached downtown Detroit by DriedClexler · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just flew in to Detroit on business, so I didn't feel it, but you can see it pretty clearly impacted the area near downtown. It shook a few houses to the ground, it left immense cracks in the streets, and I can already see looting going on.

    God, some areas look like a third-world country now! I hope the other places handled it better.

    --
    Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
  7. Earthquake news by GReaToaK_2000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    USGS earthquake was a 5.8 about 3.7 miles down.

    S & P downgraded it to 4.5.