Earthquake!
August 23, 2011, 2:28 pm
Posted by Grant Gallicho
Yes, a few minutes ago a 5.9 magnitude earthquake began in Charlottesville, Virginia, and rumbled all the way up to Boston–and down to North Carolina. Everyone at Commonweal is safe and sound. We barely noticed. Because this is our building:
It was a little like this:
But nothing like this (from the DSK presser):
All I can say is that when George Bush was president, we never had an earthquake on the East Coast. Hmmm. Makes you wonder, no?
You own that building and you can’t afford an iOS app?
Have you looked at our masthead lately, David? We have fewer than a dozen full-time employees.
Anthony, you win! I was just wondering when we’d hear the first pol use an earthquake analogy in an anti-DC campaign speech. Well, you’re a priest, not a pol. And I think both sides are running against the capital. So….
BTW, this couldn’t have been an act of God, or David Smith wouldn’t have an Internet connection…
Is everyone ok?
In San Francisco we laugh at 5.9…
Well, then, for heaven’s sake, rent out all that empty space!
The epicenter of the earthquake was in a town called “Mineral” between Charlottesville and Fredericksburg. Hurricane Irene, which is becoming a 3, is expected to head up the East Coast. Say a prayer for Virginia.
Ed Gleason: Since we still allow circumcisions here, even 5.9 can be cause for some concern…. :-)
For the record, the most expensive thing Commonweal owns is an iMac. In other words, no, we don’t own 475 Riverside Drive.
My studio apartment looks like it was picked up by a giant and shaken like a snow globe. Actually, I am at work and haven’t seen my apartment since before the earthquake, but that is what it looked like this morning when I left.
Now a physicist on CNN is talking about the possible effects of the quake on nuclear power plants in the area.
Another topic we ought to consider some time — nuclear power.
All the time I lived in NY, I remember one earthquake -in the 80′s I think, AA,on the Ardsley Fault -a 4 point something -furniture groaned and moved a bit.
Yesterday had a 5.3 out here near the CO/NM border above Raton; a few houses damaged.
While some movement there, I’d be worried about Irene on the east Coast more -already a category 4 and the cone looks like it’s headed for NC/SC.
A punishment.AA, for all those good anti-Obama folk down there?
Lucky thing Fordham University has a seismograph station on its Bronx campus. The Jesuits must have known it would one day come in handy.
http://www.fordham.edu/images/undergraduate/physics/facilities/seismic.jpg
The latest Tweet meme is the Fox News is reporting the Washington Monument is leaning right and MSNBC reports it is leaning left.
Har.
Grant, did you (like thousands) evacuate?
Apparently, as per news reports, a lot of shaking due to the shallowness of the quake, now officially listed as 5.8.
Apparently no major damage, though a water main broke in the pentagon flooding 2 floors and some ceiling tiles fell at Reagan International.
BEWARE of Irene though.
For those on the East Coast:
The NOAA puts out weather maps including ones that show the projected paths of hurricanes.
Here’s the page that shows where Irene and other disturbances are now:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
This second page shows Irene’s projected path in the next 5 days:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/145015.shtml?5-daynl#contents
As you can see, you East Coasters might need to make some serious preparations. As I remember, Katrina was a 4 too when it was in the Gulf, but only a 3 when it hit land. It’s the surge that does the main damage — it doesn’t die down as fast as the winds.
The really scary thing is that New York City is overdue for a major hit.
David N – too funny :-)
Now I’m wondering where that movie ranked among George Kennedy’s greatest roles.
Grant,
Enough of this. We know Commonweal has billions in Swiss bank accounts and is already using it to bankroll Obama’s next campaign. I must speak the truth. Kieran and I know the whole story
A
Bob Nunz:
The earthquake was in the fall of 1985. I was living in Yonkers. My husband thought it was an explosion in the basement of the apartment building but I knew it was an earthquake, since I had experienced one a few years before. We were newly married and my husband learned very early that I am always right.
David Nichol:
Hilarious! Hope you don’t mind that I email your comment to my friends.
Gotta admit, not sure what to make of the fact that the wife said, for her, the earth did not move.
I was 25 stories up in an office building in lower Manhattan and felt like my chair was rolling back and forth, but it wasn’t moving. I was fortunate enough to be on a conference call with co-workers in Philadelphia and Long Island who were feeling the same thing, so I knew it was an earthquake. Pretty bad shake – like an explosion – for my daughter in DC, but she’s ok.
I felt the Ardsley quake when we lived in the Bronx – the rattling security gates woke us up. Now we live in Ardsley (to be closer next time!???).
Ed’s right. Out here on the Left Coast (Sodom by the Sea, if you will) a 5.8/5.9 ripple would generally invite the question: did a big truck just roll by?
The National Cathedral did suffer some significant damage — cracks in buttresses, fallen finials — and is closed for the time being. No injuries. But the temptation to analogize to the state of the Anglican Communion….
Mark Proska:
“Gotta admit, not sure what to make of the fact that the wife said, for her, the earth did not move.”
Perhaps I initiated your comment with my light-hearted comment
but,
although your words appear to be funny, I think it is hardly in keeping with the high caliber of Commonweal commentary.
Ann, thanks for the maps of Hurricane Irene.
My son is on a week-long campus ministry fundraising walk (camping out) with a large group of college students in his care. Worth watching the forecast.
Enjoying the humor here…and seeing that mighty impressive Commonweal office location.
WEATHER ALERT
The latest Irene projected path has it hitting New York City around 8 p.m. Sunday. Time to make evacuation plans and establish a “communications center” — someone far from the affected area who will take and give messages for you and your loved ones.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?5-daynl#contents
Of course, it might swerve right and stay in the Atlantic or turn left and go into the mainland before areaching NYC.
Thanks, Ann! The computer models’ forecast tracks for Irene are converging toward Irene pushing through Cape Hatteras and making landfall in Long Island/Connecticut/Rhode Island/Massachusetts on Sunday, there is a long way until then and subtle changes can move the path several hundred miles by Sunday.
It’s time, now, to make your plans to deal with where flooding is a problem and what the winds will do to your home and trees.
I spent the summer in Washington DC- just got back to SBN Saturday night. I feel deprived.
Gee whiz, Cathy, you have a right to feel that way. Maybe some day an asteroid will hit South Bend or something dramatic like that, and you’ll feel better :-)
Hi Helen, nice to meet you! Don’t worry, your light-hearted comment did not initiate mine, which you thought was below Commonweal’s high caliber, yet repeated ;-).
Text “you spilled your chai latte” to 90999 to donate $1 to the victims of the Great East Coast Earthquake.
Well, I always felt deprived because I missed out on the blizzard of 78 when I was a young girl. This is probably an extension of that.
Last night in the East (San Francisco) Bay we had 2 (not after-shocks) 3.6 “snappers” (as opposed to “rollers”).
Epicenter was about 3 miles from my house on the Hayward fault.
Yawn. Just another perfect day in paradise.
As a veteran of the 1969 and 1978 blizzards in MA, you only missed some really scary moments, Prof. Kaveny.
Six months pregnant in ’69, carrying one toddler, my husband the other, walking in the dark along Rte 128/95 after the car died, hoping to reach shelter supposedly close by, a Good Samaritan picked us up and we made it to a heavenly-placed off-ramp hotel. We got about the last rooms for the three-day stay, a suite on the top floor where the toddlers jumped on the bed and indulged TV. That was before the cots in the halls filled up, and food was short.
Makes for storytelling decades later, and gratitude for blessings received.
IRENE ALERT
Here’s the latest Irene projection map
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?5-daynl#contents
NYC mega area take care!!
And they all ran.
Certainly I would expect the Congress critters to flee; looking as they always do, to save their own derriers. Also of course, I would expect the normally groggy, grazing government bureaucrats to realize they could take the rest of the day off (paid), but evacuate the Pentagon? That complex of buildings is supposed to contain our military brass.
If the top brass in our military run like wailing school girls over a 5.8 temblor – where not one brick hit the ground mind you – what will they do in an emergency?
Good God!
Lots of people with no experience of eartquakes or other cataxklysms may panic.
Ken’s post (unfortunately pwer usual) is anti big government rant that lends nothing to whatever discssion is here.
I’m worried about the people in the greater New York City area who are *not* fleeing.
I read that the city is 33 feet above sea level. Category 4-5 hurricanes have surges of about 24-28 feet, sp I assume flooding doesn’t present a huge worry except for beach areas. What about th suburbs? What are their elevations? Even if the winds die down when they hit land, the surges don’t are not reduced so quickly.
Anne’s point is true. Even parts of the City itself, and not just the coastal areas, are in evacuation zones. NYC OEM has a website to check out whether you live in one of those zones. My apt building in the Bronx is ok, but 100 yards away, down a hill, that area is an evacuation zone for Category 3s. (And there are other parts that might need to evacuate in weaker storms)
I had no idea we had to worry here about anything other than fallen trees and electrical outages.
For those of you who don’t know just what to do to prepare for a hit, see this site prepared by NOAA, FEMA and the Red Cross. IT explains a lot, and at the end it tells you what steps to take to prepare.
http://www.weather.gov/os/hurricane/resources/TropicalCyclones11.pdf
One thing it doesn’t tell you is this: don’t assume that if you decide to ride it out at home that you will have electricity. Usually electrical power is out for at least a while and sometimes for days or even weeks. This means that you won’t be able to re-charge your cell phone unless you can do it using your car. And your laptops will also run out of energy. So use them sparely if you’re stuck at home.
Fill up the car with gas NOW. There will probably be a run on service stations later at the last minute, and they will run out of gas.
One thing the FEMA site doesn’t tell you is to put those papers in secure plastic bags and include not only insurance papers, but banking papers, e.g., statements, as well as credit card statements. And you should have addresses of where to write if your local bank/insurance company/whatever cannot be contacted for some reason. If your roof goes or leaks badly your papers can easily turn to pulp if rained on. Also, I strongly advise putting your most precious photographs and letters in plastic bags for protection. Also, make a copy of all the addresses on your computer and put it in a plastic bag, and put any address book in the same bag. This could save you hours of frustration later
If you decide to evacuate, establish someone outside of the area as your contact person for family and friends. And take a lot of blank check with you — if you are away for a month or more you might need them. Be sure to take your cherished photographs and mimentos. Time and time again Katrina evacuees said that their worst losses were of such personal things. Your family jewelry will be safe in the bank. Gold and silver will keep, and pearls love water :-)
At the moment the storm doesn’t look like a Katrina for most of the coast, but things can change. Better sure than stuck in your attic.
P. S SCHOLARS — MOST URGENT
IF you have your life’s work on a computer, start making copies on disks right at this moment. And i you have notes that are irreplaceable, get secure plastic bags for them that they can be carried in. NOt to mention the books you want to put in the trunks of your cars. An older friend of mine actually lost his whole life’s work to Katrina. (His house is now completely gone — a vacant lot remains.)
Sorry to be such a Cassandra, but that’s what bad hurricanes can be like.
PPS — CNN has the head of the national Hurricane Center on right now. He is saying things of interest to people on the East Coast — your concerns sound somewhat different from the concerns of the Gulf states. Do check him out.
I imagine the interview will be repeated during the day and evening.
CNN just said that the brokerages down in Wall Street intend to keep working during the storm. They’re putting up their employees in hotels for a bout a week to keep them handy.
Is Wall Street insane? Wall Street is at the tip of Manhattan, in the lowest part of the island. The CNN reporter says “it floods down here even when there’s a hard rain”. Do they have generators on the upper floors of their buildings to keep their computers going? How do they expect to get data from other cities? What’s going to happen to their electrical supply when they’re flooded? I know those guys are paid to take risks, but . . .
Ann O. – Thanks for your storm updates.
For working purposes, no numbers in and about real hurricanes are exact. 28ft = 33ft. Gamble accordingly.
Reminder: If you have important prescription medicine that may need to be refilled in the next few days, do it now. Waiting until it’s needed may run into power outages, flooding, and eastern-US transportation complications after the storm is long gone.
Jack B –
Yes, your advice about refilling prescriptions is EXCELLENT. Even if you have a week or two supply left now, get some extra, if you can persuade your pharmacist. Having extras would be essential if your life depends on the med.
4:18 p.m. CST: Latest report is that the winds have lessened somewhat, but still beware of the surge, which does not go down as fast as the winds.
Remember: winds go down as they hit land, but they can pick up again as they go over open water.
There’s now a lot of talk on TV about the threat Irene poses to bridges, roads, tunnels, subways, and the myriad little dams that are found all over the place.
I wonder if, after Irene has passed, people will recall that Obama has been talking at least since his campaign about the necessity to spend some money on repairing and maintaining our aging infrastructure. Will they remember that the reason most of New Orleans flooded was because the levees were not properly maintained? They probably won’t. They’ll be too busy blaming Irene on him..