Earthquakes on the East Coast??? What is this?!? I’m supposed to be the one feeling the earth move under my feet! :) But there was indeed a magnitude 5.1 earthquake this morning, not in Southern California like usual, but in Plattsburg, New York. It was felt throughout the Northeast, and it woke up my parents in Newington, Connecticut. Their conversation reportedly went as follows:
Dad: “Leanna.”
Mom: “Mmmph?”
D: “Leanna!”
M: “Hmmrmmph??”
D: “What’s that?”
M: “What’s what?”
D: “The bed is shaking. And the mirror. I hear noises. Mah.”
M: “Settle down.”
D: “It’s either an earthquake, or the house is falling down from the termites.”
M: “Settle down. Balf (the quarry down the street) is just blasting again.”
The quake was felt from the Buffalo area (where Becky is from) to Boston, and as far north as Ontario, Canada. Here’s an Associated Press article about it, and here’s a local article from Connecticut’s NBC affiliate. Oh, and here’s the latest from the U.S. Geological Survey, including seismograph readings.
Here are some quotes from the Fark.com discussion board:
“I felt it here in Boston this morning.. Thought I was nuts till I got a msg from a friend of mine who felt it too.. My comp desk swayed for awhile and I felt the building shake.. thought I was just crazy though..”
“It woke my up in Hoboken, NJ. Pretty strong considering it was at 6:50am and i was out cold.”
“wow. i felt it, and i didn’t believe my own body. i live in cambridge, ma, and there was a slight shaking for a few seconds (i probably only noticed because i was sitting really still, and my roommates monitor made a creaking noise). i thought i had just had a muscle spasm or something, but i guess my first asumption was right. spooky.”
“I live about 20 miles from the epicenter. It was a pretty impressive way to wake up.”
“The entire western seaboard is laughing at you. That’s like farting after eating Taco Bell to them”
“I felt that sucker in Albany, NY. Took me a little while to realize that it wasn’t my washing machine that was shaking the house.”
“I’m in the Philly suburbs and it woke me up. My cats got pretty upset as well.”
“The end is near.”
“wrong coast for earthquakes. confused. need booze.”
“Ashcroft said that there was a a terror threat against New England. I didn’t realize that Al Qaida could control earthquakes.”
“An earthquake on 4/20, it must be a sign i tells ya! either that, or god was smiting me for last night’s actions. lol. I sure wish it had happened while i was awake smoking. just isn’t the same if you sleep through it (fortunately i have been in many earthquakes so i can pretend i was awake)”
“Sorry fellas - I had one too many sausage and pepper sandwiches last night. I certainly didn’t intend to wake up the entire northeast with my *minor* gastrointestinal difficulties.”
“i go to school across the lake and the earthquake woke us all up. i thought a truck had ran into the building”
“Didn’t feel it here. Admittedly, I live on the other side of the Atlantic ;0)”
“I live here in Rochester NY and it woke me up…I wasn’t sure if it was real or not or if I was just dreaming. Then I was scared something blew up. I have an uncle that lives in Plattsburg! I wonder if he’s ok…”
“That was quite the wake-up call… I live in Plattsburgh, I was called in to work (the TV station), probably will be stuck here until the wee hours reporting every cracked foundation in the county…”
“nothing wakes me up and that motherfarkin’ earthquake did.! i live in canton NY, bout 50 miles away…i wrote it off as either base explosions or mine demolitions until i signed on the computer this am.”
“Route 9N, near Clintonville, saw one of its lanes crack and slide over 5 yards. It visually looks like flood damage. Obviously traffic in that area isn’t very intense, but it’ll require some kind of temporary fix to make two-way traffic run over one lane at that spot. There’s also a bridge in the Town of Plattsburgh that’s been deemed unsafe for traffic, more little cracks like such will probably roll in over the day”
“everytime i leave the northeast to go to northern california there’s an earthquake in the new york area. coincidence?”
“As a Californian, may I just say…
BWAAAAHAHAHAHA!”
“Note to self: do not visit New York before the apocalypse.”
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