We HAD an EARTHQUAKE today!!
 

4.0 on the Richter scale-In VIRGINIA!!
Strongest in over 100years...
Scared the hell out of me...2 long vibrations and then aftershocks!!

First,the hurricane,...then the TORNADO, NOW the Earthquake...Neighbor said end of the world is next on the list...NOT funny!!

You guys got a bit of a ride didn't you?

Didn't even feel it. Bummer.

I felt it here in Maryland sitting at a table - the table started to shake lightly and I wondered if that's what it was.

What part of Va are you in?

I checked the USGS website, and they're rating it at magnitude 4.5-- a good little shaker:

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_cdbf_nr.html

Hope you're OK.

We get dozens of quakes daily-- and we're due for a good-sized jolt. Not that I'm wishing for one....

I don't usually read the US forum, but I came here just now hoping someone might've posted about this, and sure enough here's this thread. I think it's rather exciting that you felt an earthquake, but without being put at great risk in a truly powerful one. Those of you who did/didn't feel it--where were you? I've been asking my MD/VA?DC area acquaintances whether they felt it. So far one said she didn't notice a thing because she was on the phone. (I didn't feel anything either, but my excuse is that I was in NJ.)
P.S. I think the news report I read said it was 4.5, but I'll check to make sure I am remembering correctly.

You know Andy we could't have an earthquake today in San Francisco - we are too busy with elections. Choosing a mayor is far more important than shaking, right? That's why it hit your area.

Was it your first experience? Congratulations! Get ready for next time: that duct tape you had... keep it! With the flashlights, water supply, food... Red Cross has the full list available on request. Are you old enough to remember the cold was times when they taught you in school to duck and cover? This is what you're supposed to do when a big one hits.

Now seriously: I know it's scary. Just hang on there pal. O:)

We here in Southern California feel your pain. Hang in there! OH.. and don't even think about signing up for earthquake insurance today.. your premiums just went up about 600%!
Seriously.. hang in there and do be careful, aftershocks can carry on for days or weeks... and can be stronger then the initial earthquake.

I'm in Maryland (just east of DC) and when my cup started vibrating I felt the table and realized that we were having a mild earthquake. You could certainly feel the vibration but nothing moved noticeably and it was at 4 pm. Here I felt the one shock and nothing else (yet).

Where was the epicenter?

Epicenter was near Richmond, VA. Unfortunately I was in deep discussion with some customers in LA (conference call) and missed the whole thing. I must have been really earnest or something! Geez Louise.

Doncha just hate that??? a good earthquake and you don't feel it !
That has happened to me in Los Angeles too. My son has had it happen to him in Tokyo.
Does this mean there will be more?

The earthquake was in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Quite a number of students felt it while taking final exams at James Madison University.

i used to live in texas where we had some "minor" quakes in the late 80's. woke me up one night.

4.0 huh?

thats cute.

The office I work at is about 10 miles southeast of the epicenter (west of Richmond). It's the first earthquake I've ever experienced.

I am in Chesterfield,15 mi SE of Richmond- and trust me, I felt it!!

House started to shake- I thought a sonic boom went by...but it kept going and going and going....All the dishes started to rattle..I THOUGHT that a TREE had fallen in the house AGAIN...That is what happened in Sept when the HURRICANE hit us..and then 2 days later the TORNADO!!

I went outside and NO trees down-THANK GOODNESS...Came back in and AGAIN got aftershocks...SO I went flying outside again...

Neighbor was chipping away at his tree stump that uprooted from Hurricane Isabel..I flew across the yard and asked him if a sonic boom had been thru...He said "NO, didn't you feel the Earth move"....My response " Oh, so that's what they mean that you "feel the Earth move"! He cracked up!
His wife came out and thought the furnace had exploded....

Yes, this was my FIRST and hope LAST Earthquake...


All kidding aside, it was scary as hell.. We are not trained in what to do in Earthquakes..only tornados..I knew to go under a doorway, but I actually went a bit farther and went OUT the DOOR...Totally forgot about grabbing the dog....

My hubs felt it in a 3rd floor office building---said tables started to walk across the room...He was in Petersburg...

Glad you're OK andy...sounds v. scary. Like Birdie also here in Wmbg, didn't feel a thing. Dog was acting kind of strange though. Keep the faith...

Seems like any east coast quakes are rare, but you never know... I am very used to quakes, being in Alaska. I felt the big 64 quake(9.2) as a child. We had several good ones when I lived out in the Aleutians, and we had a large one in the interior a year ago. The type where you hear the rumbling seem to pass quickly. One night, I was on the computer, and we had a vibrating quake and I actually felt dizzy afterwards. The other kind, a sudden jolt, are more unnerving. It's just a good idea to have emergency supplies on hand, as you never know, power and gas need to be turned off in some cases. I'm just happy not to be at sea level anymore, those tsunami evacuations are not fun!

I was in Williamsburg on the second floor of a building, bringing the kids to the dentist. I lived in San Jose for 5 years so I know what a quake feels like. Didn't feel a thing this time.

Please when posting news like this put where it happened in your heading. That way you won't scare everyone so much. I'm glad to here that you're fine. I have relatives in Chesterfield and am glad to hear from Andy that all is well there.

As my friend Ron used to say, "Now you know how it feels!" You haven't seen anything though until you've watched your refrigerator "walk" across the floor and the glass in your windows undulate as we did here in the SF Bay area quake in 1989. Now that's an earthquake!

Glad that it was a relatively quiet one there and that everyone's ok.

I didn't even know there was a faultline in the Virginia area. I'd read though that there a lot of little know fault lines around the US, including one just outside the NYC.

They occasionally feel a little movement in our area but we're still waiting for the big one. We live just off the New Madrid fault which runs across S. Missouri, S. Illinois and NE Arkansas. Apparently the last time it hit (prior to major population), the Mississippi flowed backwards for 8 hours, windows shattered in Chicago and church bells rang in Philly. It left a giant lake though that's still here so that's a plus.

We can't wait...

I didn't feel it and neither did my co-workers. On the news last night, only the people transplanted from earthquake areas knew what was going on. No interruptions in any utility services or problems caused by it (yea!)

Sounds scary what Andy went through, don't even want to think about that 9.2 one in Alaska.

Isn't the scale based on a power of 10? So a 5.0 is 10 times stronger than a 4.0?

Hey - our fridge walked across the kitchen in the 89 Loma Prieta quake too. It hit my mom as she was trying to get to safety and gave her a hell of a bruise on her shoulder. We were living in Santa Cruz at the time, so we got hit pretty good - lost our chimney and had some pretty good cracks in the plaster, but thankfully no structural damage to the house.

Yeah, we got one here in DC (or, rather the same one)...so wierd...I didn't feel anything, and then when i got home and saw the news, thought it was a hoax. Go figure.

how weird. we had 2 earthquakes in Norman, Oklahoma yesterday! Just baby ones, 2.0., but still enough to be felt if you were paying attention!

Dear andy,
Having grown up in San Francisco and attended public elementary schools, I benefited from the earthquake-safety training sessions which were conducted almost as frequently as fire drills during the school year. Two things really stayed with me:
First, get AWAY from the windows. You can't tell whether glass will shatter to the inside or the outside.
Second, unless you are in the countryside with no other houses adjacent, don't run outside. I know it's the first most natural panic reaction, but if you are in, say, downtown San Francisco, there will be glass flying from buildings (see above) as well as bricks, etc. A friend of mine was walking down Montgomery Street in San Fran when the Loma Prieta happened. Several loose bricks hit her from the Mills Building (an old building in the Financial District). Fortunately , someone pulled her into a car and was able to take her to safety.
Anyway, dive under a heavy table, or stand in a interior doorway and brace yourself - those are two relatively safe places to ride out the quake.

Thanks for the heads up...

We normally do not get Earthquake advice here in Virginia...SO I have filed away your advice and hope I never have to use it again!!

welcome to my world!