EARTHQUAKE!
 

Yikes...came home with a headache, 5 minutes later the whole house was moving. We're west of Philadelphia.

Felt in Washington, DC. I was outside but when I tried to go back in my office building after my lunch break, everyone was filing out and the alarm was going off.

Whole house shook here in Arlington, VA for about 15-20 seconds or so. Cell phone service has been disrupted for some; pentagon evacuated with broken water pipes; all monuments and memorials are closed.

Felt it in Hartford. Closed work down for the day!!!

Oh Dear...must be us Califonians saying "Hello". Hope al is well..it is anxietry producing too when it does ot happen very often..

Had a 5.3 one last night just before midnight in southern Colorado, felt well south into northern NM.

Californians may be used to seeing fridges wiggle and squeak... me? not so much!

Half the time we Californians don't know if it's just a big truck going by or an earthquake. We don't really notice the small ones.

A family member just outside NYC felt it - and thought she'd worked out too hard. :-)

Glad everyone seems to be okay.

Lots of folks inside NYC felt it also.

I was outside buying lunch and didn't feel anything on the street. But people inside the bldg. felt tremors for a few seconds.

Found it interesting that a quake w/ epicenter in Virginia was felt all the way up in Boston. This article provides explanation of difference between west/east coast topography (tectonic plates) and why shaking is more widespread.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewh...he-east-coast/

Duh ..... ok, here's the link.

Thought I was having a stroke. Sitting in my chair typing away and the next thing know I feel like I'm trembling, then I start to feel dizzy. Not being a wuss I just assume it was some weird medical phenomenon and would eventually go away. Then the woman in the office next door said - what the hell was that. So - I called out - oh, are you having a stroke too. She said no it's the building.

We' only on the 16th floor and it wasn;t bad for us - but I understand that the people on 45 really felt it.

Another interesting experience at work.

And our crack security team got on the PA abut 20 minutes later and said - it's an earthquake. (After everyone else had looked at CNN and seen what happened.) Instructions to follow. What instructions? Either you're squashed or you're safe. Too late for instructions.

"Thought I was having a stroke. Sitting in my chair typing away and the next thing know I feel like I'm trembling, then I start to feel dizzy. Not being a wuss I just assume it was some weird medical phenomenon and would eventually go away."

nytraveler, we often agree on travel issues, and I had exactly the same experience here in Nantucket! I couldn't tell if it were a stroke or a seizure!

Don't be fooled by the professed nonchalance of us Californians regarding earthquakes. We can get very jittery when there are a few tremors because sometimes they are followed by larger shocks. And the aftershocks that continue for days after a larger quake can be nerve wracking since one can't tell just how much shaking will ensue. It's not for nothing that our water heaters are strapped to the wall, our bookcases are also anchored to the wall. We are frequently reminded to have several days supply of water and some sort of lighting. And we have a handy wrench for turning off the house gas supply and know how to use it. In response to public exhortations, my wife carries an "earthquake kit" in her car in case an earthquake strands her while she's out on the road. And the schools periodically run earthquake drills wherein the kids dive under their desks to protect them from falling ceiling debris.

We felt it here in CLT in NC, but I confess I thought it was a train or some heavy equipment as there is construction going on next door.

Here is a looooong thread about it in the Lounge (there is another one too)

http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...uake-in-dc.cfm