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5.8 Earthquake Hits East Coast of the US
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.
How did this make Slashdot already? Nothing makes this site for weeks.
Pretty serious: http://jmckinley.posterous.com/dc-earthquake-devastation
I think my principles are reachin' an all time low
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.
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I like that it's listed at a depth of 1km, with an uncertainty of +/- 7.4 km... I really hate those sky-quakes.
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.
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