Popular Posts

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

5.9 Earthquake Hits Northern Virginia, Felt As Far Away As Massachusetts


An earthquake rocked Downtown Salisbury just moments ago. Buildings were evacuated and many people I spoke with said their light fixtures were shaking from side to side, blinds were rocking back and forth and my cell phone went off the hook from visitors as far as Washington, DC, Virginia and Caroline County.

We have provided a scale to show where the biggest impact was. Share YOUR experience with Salisbury News.

The largest earthquake we have ever had in the past, (since they started keeping records) was 2.8.

New Posts to fall below this one.


UPDATE: Salisbury News has learned there has only been one call to the Salisbury Fire Department referencing structural damage to the Health Department Building Downtown.

UPDATE #2: Here's what's most interesting about this earthquake that you're not hearing about elsewhere. Get this.....

Most earthquakes recently have been anywhere from 1 mile to 44 miles below the surface. This earthquake today was only 500 FEET below the surface! There are parts of the Chesapeake Bay deeper than that!!!! The quake was felt from Canada to North Carolina.

Our information comes from the USGS android application.

Update #3: At 2:46pm Virginia felt an after shock of 2.8. This was only 500ft below the surface.

55 comments:

  1. post office was rocking/rolling

    cinderblock building shaking

    ReplyDelete
  2. House shook for about 5-8 seconds.
    Like a rolling kind of motion.
    Live in Parsonsburg, MD

    ReplyDelete
  3. The End of September a big one is coming. I have been studying this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I missed it. I had fallen asleep for a short time. My telephone ringing woke me us; it was my neighbor telling me that we'd had an earthquake.

    ReplyDelete
  5. When was the date or year of the last one that measured 2.8? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It was an earthquake, the ground shook for 15-20 seconds and it is over. Please resume your daily activities.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Obama will try anything to get back into office...

    ReplyDelete
  8. The next one is going to take out alot of the government building.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Everybody get back to work especially the lazy Government workers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My goodness , did we wake the people in the government office bldg.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looks like some increase in wave activity here on the nanticoke.
    No wind at all.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dog gone it and I was trying to take my nap during work here in the office building; Obama got ticked off because his golf ball cannot be found!

    ReplyDelete
  13. WORLD ENDS TODAY...
    ...film at 11:00

    ReplyDelete
  14. Foundations cracked here in OC of many highrise buildings, we are on 12th floor and could actually see other buildings swaying, very scarry. Balcany ralings are loose too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I was reading the Salisbury news and my computer screen started wobbling back and forth at first I thought my washing machine was unbalanced and causing it but the washer was not on this was creepy live in Whaleyville

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm 79 miles south of Mineral and it shook our house for 30-45 sections and things were a lil intense. No damage is reported in this area.

    ReplyDelete
  17. We are vacationing in Buxton, NC (outer banks) and felt it here. I hope things are OK in Ocean City.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This was felt all the way to northern Georgia. Just talked to relatives from there.

    ReplyDelete
  19. at first i thought i was having a dizzy spell. then i looked back at another worker and her eyes were as big as saucers! the entire building evacuated because we werent sure what happened. we checked to see if something had hit the building. after a walk around and finding nothing, i said that was an earthquake! then calmly walked back inside like nothing had happened. lol

    ReplyDelete
  20. It shook us here in Greenwood DE. Buildings shook maybe 20-30 seconds. Water Tower swaying.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Does anyone know if the Bay Bridge suffered any damage?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Bridge Tunnel has some small cracks found. Tiny leaks in second tunnel.
    I am a toll collector and was called to not come in. May be closing down for rest of tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is serious stuff, but watch the Media put frosting on it and sell it as no big deal to avoid panic. Deny, Deny, Deny is the word from them.

    ReplyDelete
  24. When I lived in Long Beach, CA. after a quake of 4 on the scale you were advised to avoid travel on bridges and overpasses till they could be checked out by the Highway Comm. Tunnels under the ocean leaking?!?! Wow? I wouldn't drive thru it for a while. Wonder how the Bay Bridge made out?

    ReplyDelete
  25. In the city - recliner moved w/me in it and a wind chime hanging in the living room was tingling......

    ReplyDelete
  26. The quake's epicenter released the equivalent power of 10,676 tons of dynamite. That is TONS not sticks. Buildings in DC have crumbled and there is a report of one total collaps. The national cathederal has lost one of it's spires it came crashing down and smashed, no one hit, thank God.

    ReplyDelete
  27. b/c it was so shallow they are advising people to avoid tunnels, overpasses and subways in case of after shocks...

    ReplyDelete
  28. I'm in Baltimore and our building was swaying, computer monitor shaking, and books fell off the shelf. Evacuated for quite some time.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I was in a QSR. I finished my lunch and got in the car and turned on NPR. They mentioned it about 10 minutes after the tremors.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I was shooting Pool when the balls started moving, and the cue sticks on the wall started vibrating.As Fred Sanford said; Im comin to meet you Elisabeth.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Actually there are no reports of damage or injuries associated with this quake. And there was a 3.9 earthquake in D.C. on July 16th of last year. This isn't the first time the Eastern shore has had earthquakes. They happen all the time, they're just too minor to feel.

    ReplyDelete
  32. anon 4:00, THANKS! I needed a laugh!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. This is better information than we got from the TV news.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Any news on the Bay Tunnel? I checked their web site and nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Was in Walmart, north Sby lookin' for lawnmower parts. Things hangin' on the racks started moving and the bicycles hanging from the ceiling (right over my head) started moving back and forth. After I got out from under the bikes, I met a store employee who said she hadn't felt or seen anything, but "they might be working up on the roof." Another customer said she had felt it, too, and we assumed it was an earthquake. It was confirmed when I got back in my truck and they were talking about it on the radio. The guy who was talking about it was in DC, so I knew it was pretty far-ranging. This is my second earthquake, the first was when I was in Korea in the Army many years ago. That one I first thought was the ground shaking from artillery fire, but there were no accompanying explosions or noise, so decided it wasn't that. Was near the DMZ. Didn't hear for sure that it was EQ until next day.

    ReplyDelete
  36. An earthquake AND a hurricane on the way? Wow......2012 looks like a prophecy that may come true.

    ReplyDelete
  37. is this caused by the planet warming up making the earth expand? i wish i bought them new kind of light bulbs now.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oh my God! What is wrong with you people!? Would you rather the employees stay in the buildings & risk getting killed in a building collapse? If you have TV in that mud hut you're living in, turn it on and watch the reports of collapsed buildings caused by the earthquake. Listen to the reports that are saying this earthquake is as powerful as any on record for the East coast. Don't you think that non-government employees in the area were evacuated, too? Even if you don't care about the lives of these despicable government workers, think about all the money it would cost you (if you even pay taxes, 1/2 of all Americans don't, after all, so it's 50/50 you don't) to pay for the rescue operation, the hospital bills, the funerals, the life insurance payouts, the lawsuits, etc. that would result if something like that were to happen! Are you that full of hate? Again, oh my God!!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Dollars to donughts it's DARPA testing HAARP as a hurricane deflector for the east coast.

    ReplyDelete
  40. A cyclone is coming too.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Looking at all these posts, you'd think the world just came to an end.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Johnathan Taylor copied everything you did on this issue today. He's obsessed with you Joe. Better watch out. The guy is very sick in the head.

    ReplyDelete
  43. why not take an hour of pay from those out side. that way they can hold hands and be safe at the same time and not cost the tax payers.

    ReplyDelete
  44. The lifting of the veil.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Thank you 4:59. I know that everyone thinks us government workers do nothing but when is the last time you got a raise?

    ReplyDelete
  46. When HAARP creates quakes they are shallow.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Dear 743PM. I have not had a raise in over ten years....and I don't have health benefits and paid vacation time either.

    ReplyDelete
  48. 9:19 PM

    What a whiner! I can't believe you can't find a family member already employed in Government to get you one too. Heck, a lot of us are considering holding family reunions over here next the the Government office building. Maybe weddings for our kids too!

    It's the new norm.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I guess I am one of the only people on the shore that has been fortunate enough to travel to other parts of the world where earthquakes are a common place. The ground moved a little and you would think that an ICBM with a nuke payload was unleashed on the east coast. It is a fact of life that the earth is constantly moving, but it rarely happens on the east coast. It is not God or the Devil or Obama or the liberals or the republicans or some secret conspiracy. Everyone on the shore should be more concerned about the potential hurricane.

    ReplyDelete
  50. 9:17 - sounds like you should find a new job! Wow ... over 10 years w/o a raise, vacation or benifits. Sort of proves that government workers are not quite as dumb as many of you whiners!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Anonymous said...
    Oh my God! What is wrong with you people!?

    ReplyDelete
  52. I was in Walmart south at the time and didn't feel a thing.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Mother earth's intention to swallow Washington DC and it's cronnies.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I think you are wrong about the depth.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Wow, some of you people are REALLY dumb and ignorant! I was one of those government workers outside and I wasn't out there because I wanted to be... we were forced to evacuate ourselves and our patients due to conditions of the building and the earthquake shaking the whole damn thing! So before you open your useless mouths again, get a life! At least our bosses care about our well-being!!!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.