5.8 Earthquake Aug 23, 2011

[09-10 analogy]

Got a kick from rereading how my pooches slept thru the whole thing. After a decade, I think their non response sticks in my mind more than the quake itself

 

 

[Maestrobjwa]

2 hours ago, LP08 said:

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").

Oof...makes my lament look tame! (Insert "That's rough buddy" meme)

[vastateofmind]

I was in a conference room, on the second floor of a former Army barracks building (located on the "historic" part of the post) at Fort Belvoir, and we were on a conference call with a large group in downtown Philadelphia. Felt/heard a rumble that could be construed as the HVAC turning on....except you started to FEEL it, more than you could hear it. Plus, the ceiling mounted 55" flat screen monitor at the front of the conference room started to ROCK back and forth. Oh, and suddenly, the conference line to Philly went DEAD.

I looked across the table at a colleague of mine and mouthed, "Is this a f*cking earthquake??" and then all hell broke loose...people running up/down the outside hallway screaming, "EARTHQUAKE!" and then, thinking back to all I saw/heard on TV over the years, I yelled, "Hey, everyone, stand in the doorway!" 

The pros/vets who survived California quakes and who were part of our meeting prevailed, and hauled us all outside of the building and across the street. All were fine, including the nearly 100-year old barracks buildings at Fort Belvoir. Like everyone else, I tried to call my wife at work (didn't get through to her, LOL), and my then-teenaged sons who were home at the time. I DID get through to my sons....who said, with exception of several items falling off of shelves, everything was fine at home. Except just prior to the worst of the shaking of the quake, our Labrador retriever ran to both of our sons and started barking frantically. They say animals can sense when quakes are coming...and based on that, I believe it.

[Kmlwx]

Bump for nostalgia

[mappy]

happy earthquake day friends!

irene anniversary coming up too!

[Kmlwx]

1 minute ago, mappy said:

happy earthquake day friends!

irene anniversary coming up too!

Imagine a "Hall of Fame" style year...would be something else (nobody come at me with the ethical argument of tracking exciting weather/science events). 

Just think a year with the following all packed into a single 12 month period (or comparable events)

1) All of the winter events of the 09-10 winter.

2) April 28, 2002 severe/tornado event (as the spring event)

3) June 29, 2012 severe/derecho event (as summer time severe event)

4) Random smattering of significant severe days in the peak of summer and into mid-August. 

5) Some significant tropical action in the form of an Isabel (but perhaps even more significant...like @Eskimo Joe's left turning tropical cyclone up the west side of the Potomac.

6) September 24, 2001 severe/tornado event as another fall event. 

7) Sandy in late October

8) Veterans Day 1987 Snowstorm as an early wintry surprise. 

9) A typical December 5th snow event (even if small) to kickoff the next winter

10) More winter storms like 09-10 in December. 

Also throw in big synoptic wind events in early spring/and later into fall/winter. And just because I'm feeling generous - throw in major heat to make EJ happy. 

[H2O]

Oh the memories. Wondering if my building was gonna fall down. Wondering if everyone was ok. Wondering wtf that really was. 
 

Phones not working and the lawn chair. Need another. 

[Bodhi Cove]

4 hours ago, H2O said:

Oh the memories. Wondering if my building was gonna fall down. Wondering if everyone was ok. Wondering wtf that really was. 
 

Phones not working and the lawn chair. Need another. 

I missed the picture of the two lawn chairs that are falling over

[StormchaserChuck!]

I feel the vibe. 

Now for the mass extinction event

[Hoosier]

Earthquake threads are moderator dream threads.  Nobody can troll them before or during the quake.

[Stormfly]

Vividly remember it.

Always wanted to experience a "real" quake.

Did.

Don't want to do it again.

[87storms]

Was in Columbia at the time (at work talking to my manager…think it was even a performance review lol). So unlikely to get an earthquake here that my first guess was that the building was crumbling. It was pretty legit for about a minute there. I also remember cell service being down bc everyone was trying to figure out what just happened.