Earthquake in Virginia

Re: Earthquake in Virginia


Jeez! Up here in the North, we didn't even have radios in 1875!

according to my calcs , epi was around Scottsville Va. I had only 2 stations of data so I get 2 potential answers so I chose Scottsville rather than in the water. It makes sense cuz thats the edge of a foldzone in Triassic rocks called the Hardware syncline.
Gettin pretty close to Waltons Mtn there Johnboy

I edited in a couple of commas to make things clearer to you. This apparently was felt into PA to the north, NC to the south and WV to the west.

Wow!

Everyone OK?

It seems everyone is fine, although there have been reports of some structural damage to buildings south of my town of Charlottesville. There was an interview on local radio with some guy from the government's seismic monitoring office in Memphis. He mentioned that the devices that they have in place are old and slow in reporting (which, given the lack of activity in the area, is appropriate).
Farmerman's calc shifts the epi another 20 miles west and about 15 south. Close to the Mtn, indeed.
The two earlier quakes (perhaps three and ten years ago) lasted only for a second or two. This one lasted 5-8 seconds. Does that mean it was shallow or deep?

My God, Johnboy! Nothing from my family on that. How odd, because Florida is past the height of the hurricane season, and there's a tropical storm called Peter forming in the Atlantic.

Methinks our calendar is a month behind.

just called my sister. She experienced nothing, but she owns a trailer park and the tenants were scared to death. The vibrations and shocks rocked them about a bit.

Wow Johnboy. Glad everyone is ok.

Oh, rjb, that is frightening! Glad nobody was hurt.

I know nothing about earthquakes. Where I live, tornados are the big events. Wish I could help.

Heavens above; at least everyone is alright. Was there much damage?

Over here, a bitty little earthquake is big news... and that happens only once in a blue moon..

There turned out to be virtually no damage, although there were a few reports of cracks in plaster (old houses such as mine have plaster walls rather than sheetrock).
It was a big topic of talk today, of course, with every conversation starting with "So, what did you feel?"
One of my employees was off yesterday. She (a normally nice young lady who evidentally has been warped by some of her co-workers) was driving and said it felt like she was "...driving over a herd of bunny rabbits."
The folks at my store said it felt and sounded like someone had thrown a bunch of bowling balls down the hallways upstairs.
Finally, one of my employees is the 21-year-old son of missionaries. In 1999 he was working in a refugee camp in Turkey (Ismit?) after a quake there had killed thousands of people. He experienced a 7.something right before he left.

Thanks for your comments and concern. What I find interesting is that this was the second measurable event in 2003 but only the fourth or so in more than a decade. Something is going on down there.

Thanks again. realjohnboy

Realjohnboy, good to hear you are OK. I'll call my friend in Charlottesville to find out if she felt anyhthing.
Stay safe.

I see that V Tech has revised its epicenter to about 45 Mi West of Richmond , Its an inexact science especially when someones seismic station clock may be off a few tenths of a second (it happens) . One second error is about 3.5 miles for bedrock P waves.

i havent found a site but you should compare the richter scale with the Mercalli scale. The M scale is a 'felt" motion scale and the numbers are more tuned to the experience that the observer has .

Friends of mine who live in Clayton, which is only 15 east of Raleigh said they felt slight tremors. I was at home in North Raleigh and didn't notice anything. Glad you're okay up there. I have a lot of family in Lynchburg and Madison Heights but no one called me so I guess they're all right but just the same I believe I'll call my daughter and my aunt.