5.8 Earthquake Aug 23, 2011

[Amped]

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/08/22/cathedral-repairs-still-adding-up-2-years-after-earthquake/

 

The Washington monument and National Cathedral are still under repair. 

[mappy]

congrats all, we made it another year. i hope we have all rebuilt, bigger, and smarter. remember we were all chasing irene when it happened. 

[George BM]

Thread created August 23, 2011 at 1:51pm edt. 

 

Earthquake occured August 23, 2011 at 1:51pm edt.

 

I'm just picturing Kenny weenieing bigly ninjaly whipping up the earthquake thread while mass chaos ensues all around him. 

[mappy]

remember when people like Ian and Randy posted a lot?

[MN Transplant]

The earthquake was awesome.  Definitely remains one of those "where were you" moments.

[Jebman]

I definitely remember that one. Man that was a shock.

[Kmlwx]

Remember this day so vividly. Hard to believe it's been this long...

[wxdude64]

On 8/23/2018 at 3:24 PM, mappy said:

remember when people like Ian and Randy posted a lot?

 

[mappy]

Happy 10 years. 

[H2O]

Saw on the news this morning that they are still fixing damage at the National cathedral from the quake. It’s a slow process

[Kmlwx]

This thread is my signature claim to fame.  

[Kmlwx]

Just now, H2O said:

Saw on the news this morning that they are still fixing damage at the National cathedral from the quake. It’s a slow process

I heard on WTOP the other day that for 100% completion it could be "another 10 years"

[mappy]

6 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

This thread is my signature claim to fame.  

Was a wild week. 

[Kmlwx]

1 minute ago, mappy said:

Was a wild week. 

Definitely one of those events where I remember exactly (with stunning detail) what I was doing when it hit. Derecho in 2012 was another one - as is June 4, 2008. 

[mappy]

4 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

Definitely one of those events where I remember exactly (with stunning detail) what I was doing when it hit. Derecho in 2012 was another one - as is June 4, 2008. 

yup, I remember those vividly too

5 months pregnant

Sister graduated from high school that day in June, storms and all. 

[WxWatcher007]

Wow. Ten years ago I was sitting in a law school orientation when all of a sudden the ground shook. I looked at my cup of water and it was vibrating like Jurassic Park. Still surreal lol. 

[Rhino16]

It’s been 10 years? Frick.

[H2O]

38 minutes ago, mappy said:

yup, I remember those vividly too

5 months pregnant

Sister graduated from high school that day in June, storms and all. 

On the phone, it cuts out, one min of my building shaking like crazy, hoping it didn't fall down, spending a long time trying to make calls to everyone saying "did you feel that?!! was that a quake?!!!"

[Maestrobjwa]

I remember being quite disappointed because I didn't feel it since I was driving...(still kinda am...rare event! That was really something else!)

[mattie g]

I remember the whole thing like it was yesterday. I even remember the "conversation" I had with my co-worker about it and how we decided to leave the building despite the generally held belief that setting up in a doorway or somesuch is a better idea than trying to get out of a building during an earthquake.

We finally got our chimney re-pointed last year. It had some decent damage from the quake, but obviously not as bad as the numerous chimneys that collapsed in my neighborhood that day.

[09-10 analogy]

Dec 09 to Jun 12 was quite the stretch around here: the pre-Xmas 09 snow, the 10 Days that Whited Out Our World in late Jan/early Feb 10, Carmageddon, the tail end of Superoutbreak 2 in April 11, the quake, Irene, Lee, the derecho. Every one of them a big memory (Lee only because I happened to be driving though it) for most DMVers.

Since then: well, Jan 2016 of course. But other than than, a few isolated severe events (but anything region-wide?), a couple of good winters without a real signature event, the March 2018 windstorm (didn't really excite me, but I guess I'm the minority there). Nothing to make a scrapbook over. This summer's severe has been good for a lot of folks but all the real fun has edged me by. Then the B-listers: Isaias, the January 2019 snowstorm, a few localized (if notable) flash floods. 

Just a personal observation, YMWOV. I realize you could lift a lot of 2.5 year periods at random throughout the 100+ year recorded weather of the DMV and make a similar conclusion, and the subjectivity with such an exercise is off in the nth dimension, but it'd be hard to beat 12/09-6/12 from my POV.

[Maestrobjwa]

To this day I'm still kinda ticked I missed out on it...I mean JUST missed! A 4 minute drive to the bank...and it happened--but I couldn't feel it because I was driving, smh. Missed out on that memory! May not have something like that again...

[H2O]

I'll always remember having to go out onto two dams the day after over concern they moved due to the quake.  They didn't move a single bit.  Was always tempted to screw with the data to show it was now the shape of a banana.  Don't miss that part of the job anymore.  Nice views tho.

[MN Transplant]

1 hour ago, 09-10 analogy said:

Dec 09 to Jun 12 was quite the stretch around here: the pre-Xmas 09 snow, the 10 Days that Whited Out Our World in late Jan/early Feb 10, Carmageddon, the tail end of Superoutbreak 2 in April 11, the quake, Irene, Lee, the derecho. Every one of them a big memory (Lee only because I happened to be driving though it) for most DMVers.

Since then: well, Jan 2016 of course. But other than than, a few isolated severe events (but anything region-wide?), a couple of good winters without a real signature event, the March 2018 windstorm (didn't really excite me, but I guess I'm the minority there). Nothing to make a scrapbook over. This summer's severe has been good for a lot of folks but all the real fun has edged me by. Then the B-listers: Isaias, the January 2019 snowstorm, a few localized (if notable) flash floods. 

Just a personal observation, YMWOV. I realize you could lift a lot of 2.5 year periods at random throughout the 100+ year recorded weather of the DMV and make a similar conclusion, and the subjectivity with such an exercise is off in the nth dimension, but it'd be hard to beat 12/09-6/12 from my POV.

Summer 2010 had the record number of 90 degree days, 2011 had the insane humidity/heat, and 2012 had a bunch of 100+ days.  It really was an amazing period.

[WinterWxLuvr]

I’ll never forget that quake. Craziest memory of mine is my pool water looked like water sloshing around in a bowl.

[MN Transplant]

8 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

I’ll never forget that quake. Craziest memory of mine is my pool water looked like water sloshing around in a bowl.

I lived in the central valley in California for several years when I was a kid.  We had one moderate (6-ish) earthquake when I was 5 or 6 years old.  The water sloshing out of our pool is one of my earliest vivid memories.

I probably conveyed it earlier in this thread, but my memory of the 2011 quake is that I was on the 6th floor of an office building and the ceiling tiles started rattling with the initial waves.  Then the S wave hit and the floor moved up and down, which was the very clear indicator of an earthquake and I got out real quick.

 

[WinterWxLuvr]

16 minutes ago, MN Transplant said:

I lived in the central valley in California for several years when I was a kid.  We had one moderate (6-ish) earthquake when I was 5 or 6 years old.  The water sloshing out of our pool is one of my earliest vivid memories.

I probably conveyed it earlier in this thread, but my memory of the 2011 quake is that I was on the 6th floor of an office building and the ceiling tiles started rattling with the initial waves.  Then the S wave hit and the floor moved up and down, which was the very clear indicator of an earthquake and I got out real quick.

 

I had my hand on the doorknob heading out as it hit. Growing up in a coal mining community my first thought was some type of explosion. I turned and when I did I saw the glass doors in a cabinet giving off the reflections from the pool water. By then it had lasted long enough that I realized what had happened .

[WxUSAF]

I remember my computer monitor bouncing across my desk and wondering why I had never heard a train so close to my office before.

[AdamHLG]

I had just stepped onto the elevator at work on an upper floor on my building and as the doors started to close they shook back and forth pretty violently within the tracks such that the elevator cab was shaking too (also from the quake but I thought at the time it was from the door issue).  As the doors struggled to close I was like "WTF" and jumped out of the elevator car back onto the landing.  I thought it was the elevator having a seizure until my co-worker hurries out of our suite and proclaims "Earthquake - get out of the building" and he ran for the stairs.  I just stood there at that point and thought to myself "no - WAY" and then quickly thought that if it was that strong here then where was the epicenter?  In that moment I thought it could have been a catastrophic quake 50-100 miles away.  That was the truly scary part - the next 5 min of checking social media.       

[LP08]

Being a geology major and on an airplane during this as I flew to Puerto Rico for work only to miss Irene after was a real kick in the rocks (pun intended).  I've had some horrible luck as I missed the '09-10 winter living in Alabama (the only year I didn't live "here").