Earthquake! Washington DC!

[Matthew Amt]

This morning at 5:05 my family and I were awoken by an earthquake! (Well, my lovely wife Jane was already awake.) Felt like someone dropped a truck in our yard. I was thinking train wreck or plane crash, but it was just a rumble and the house shook, no explosions or fireballs. Wild! Jane turned on the news and went to the US Geological Survey page that has an earthquake map, and in a few minutes it was confirmed, a 3.6 Richter quake centered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, about 15 miles from my house in Laurel.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 78.-76.php

Obviously the Californians will all laugh at us, but this is the first one that many of us Marylanders have ever felt! Luckily, no real damage or casualties, that I've heard of. Not even a decent tsunami in the lake!

Valete,

Matthew

[Jona Lendering]

Luckily, no real damage or casualties, that I've heard of.

I am slightly jealeous, because you at least woke up and realized there was something going on. I have, on two occasions, managed to continue sleeping, even when everyone else was awake.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

I have experienced two in the south of the Netherlands.. one when i was in primary school, one when i was in secondary school..

weird experience indeed !!

M.VIB.M.

[Robert Vermaat]

Plus you had a 2.0 just 7 minutes later..

The only one that I ever experienced was the 5.8 of 1992, which was a long way off and felt like a heavy truck thundering through our street.

[Jona Lendering]

The only one that I ever experienced was the 5.8 of 1992, which was a long way off and felt like a heavy truck thundering through our street.

That's one of the earthquakes I managed to sleep through...

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

In the 1992 one my parents house got damaged and there was a crack in the wall...

M.VIB.M.

[Narukami]

No Matt, we will not be laughing at you.

When I was younger I too would sleep through them, but ever since the Northridge quake I have not missed feeling many on them.

http://www.data.scec.org/chrono_index/northreq.html

Then too, I often felt them in Hawai'i but those were always due to a eruption event on the Big Island -- the goddess Pele has been active at that volcano for as long as I can remember.

Of course, even these pale in comparison to some of the recent Big One's around the world.

Happy to hear you came through it A-OK.

Narukami

[PhilusEstilius]

I was rudely awakened in Rome when the Assi quake happend my bed was rocking, then when my friend put on the lights they were swinging all over. Then the next day I was sitting in the Piaza Navona waiting for my friend when all of the Pigeons took flight then the place shook again.
It is so strange how animals and birds can sense these things just prior to them happening, it was so wierd how every bird took flight just a split second before the place shook.