Here we go… just heard a 5.9 quake hit DC. Will that ever mess up all transportation including rail?
Step son near Blomsburg [north of Harrisburg Pa ] felt it. At first thought it was a train but no train and completely confused him.
I sat through the whole thing. Took me a sec to figure out what it was. Apparently the epicenter was down toward Richmond.
John
Well, I’m looking at the Roanoke webcam right now, and stuff is still moving. I don’t know where Roanoke is from the epicenter of the quake, but apparently the damage ain’t bad. It’s a 5.9. I might as well delete the other topic and just post stuff here…no point in having duplicate topics. During that time, I had thought it was just someone shaking the desk on the other side.
Listened to a bit of DC radio - someone was saying that Metro was running slow, but still running.
Heard scanner traffic from where my son lives in MD saying something about checking bridges, and they had some cliffs collapse along the shore of Chesapeake Bay. Didn’t hear any indications of casualties.
And soon the east coast will have even more fun when Irene hits…
Reported to be a 5.9 centered between Richmond and Charlottesville … was only 1/2 mile deep, which is very, very shallow for a EQ. Felt it in Maryland and it knocked several items off my fireplace mantle.
What fault does Washington lie on?
Is it the Bush fault?
Ed
All of Washington “lies” on whose “Fault” it is.
I just heard that it is the “previousadministration’s fault”.
Ed
Heard that Amtrak is in the middle of something again. They had to check tracks, bridges and tunnels. They just can’t catch a break!
Felt it here in Gastonia also.
problems abound
The quake is the closest thing to a Whitehouse shakeup to date
Because it’s over 4.9 and shallow, any signal system should have been reduced to restricted speed within 150-200 miles of the epicenter. If the operating/dispatching bubbas are unaware that they have a seismic plan (just like the west coast railroads), the FRA operating practices inspectors are gonna have a field day issuing fines. (for railroads not following their own procedures no less)
With a 5.9, there probably are lots of old relays flipped-over in their oil suspension in crossing signal cabinets and CTC systems. (good argument for converting to solid state electronics).
Just heard that the shaking was felt far to the west in Cincinnati.
Sisterinlaw in Beavercreek Ohio said slight ripples appeared in pool not caused by wind.
Amtrak & CSX are operating at Restricted Speed South of Baltimore and Controlled speed on areas that are not at Restricted Speed…it is going to be a long slow commute as all the highways in the Balto-Wash Metro area are clogged too…
Well it hit DC at about 1:30pm and most of us zipped outside of the building. Two guys formerly from California and really all of us knew what it was. Naturally the boss ran right past his 89 year old dad, who was just visiting and hadn’t a clue. When I led him out he was still clueless.
It’s like I’ve always said, " the Old Man builds tthe business for 50 years and the son gets into sly business deals and real estate, and wrecks it".
Mettro, MARC, VRE, CSX, NS running slow this evening and monuments closed for inspection. All should be well tomorrow morning except for a lot of yacking about this rare quake.
RIX
Looks like it was not as bad as it could have been, at a possible 5.9 strength. No one lost their life, so that was a big plus.
Also just heard that it was felt on Martha’s Vinyard. It sloshed some water out of pots with tonight’s lobster dinner, and splashed some drawn butter on the floor… But no real losses. Out on the golf course, Obama took a couple of Mulligans just to be safe.
Badda Bing! Badda Boom!
…I’m guessing by tomorrow, we’ll see some damages in many places.