http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_18739820

PAIR OF RATTLERS: 5.8 quake hits W.Va.; 5.3 strikes Colorado, New Mexico
By The Associated Press
Posted: 08/23/2011 11:06:39 AM PDT
Updated: 08/23/2011 11:18:09 AM PDT

WASHINGTON - A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt as far north as Rhode Island and New York City.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. The quake was in Mineral, Va., in Louisa County.

Meanwhile, the strongest earthquake to strike Colorado in more than 40 years shook awake hundreds of people, toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico.
No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday.
"Here we go again, there's another one starting. We got to get out of here," said Garry Ringo, owner of Ringo's Super Trading Post in the small town of Segundo, Colo., as bottles on shelves rattled in the background during an interview with The Associated Press.

Ringo estimated he lost thousands of dollars' worth of liquor and soda.

The magnitude 5.3 quake hit at 11:46 p.m. MDT Monday about nine miles southwest of Trinidad, or 180 miles south of Denver, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden. It had an estimated depth of 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) and was felt in a relatively large area of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.

Las Animas County Sheriff Jim Casias said Colorado authorities were assessing damage and so far had reported a porch collapse and a partially collapsed roof. No injuries had been reported, he said.

"As I had one lady tell me, `Sheriff, maybe the world's coming to an end.' All I mentioned to her is that someday it will," Casias said.

Dozens of residents in Trinidad, a town of 9,000 people, and in northern New Mexico called the USGS to report the shaking. Others called from Colorado Springs, Colo., about 130 miles north of the epicenter, said geophysicist Shengzao Chen.

Minor aftershocks continued Tuesday in the relatively sparsely populated area that the USGS says is not known for major quakes or active faults. Theresa James, manager of Ringo's Super Trading Post, said a small swarm lasting three days hit the area last summer. Segundo is a former coal mining town of about 100 people.

USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala said Monday's earthquake damaged chimneys, cracked walls and knocked items off shelves.

Minor rockslides were reported on Colorado Highway 12 and Interstate 25, but both highways remained open, a Las Animas County Sheriff's Office dispatcher said Tuesday.

The dispatcher, who would only give her first name as Kristina, said she was working when the earthquake hit near midnight.

"Everything was shaking, but we had no power loss," she said.

"I thought maybe a car had hit my house," said 70-year-old Trinidad resident Nadine Baca. "Then I called my son and he said it was the third (quake) today."

Cathy Gutierrez of Raton, N.M., about 20 miles south of Trinidad, told The Associated Press Tuesday that she felt two earthquakes, one around 5:30 p.m. Monday and the big earthquake just before midnight.

"My bed shook with all my pictures. It just went back and forth. I thought someone hit my house. I ran outside. We've had some before (earthquakes), but never this strong," Gutierrez said. "It was a very scary feeling."

Ron Thompson, mine manager with New Elk Mine about 30 miles west of Trinidad, said coal miners 300 to 800 feet underground didn't feel anything but crews above ground and at the company office in Trinidad, where he was at the time, did.

"Not real exciting, but it got your attention," he said of the shallow quake.

The quake was the largest in Colorado since a magnitude-5.3 temblor was recorded in Denver's northern suburbs in 1967, said Paul Earle of the USGS.

Sigala said the area occasionally has swarms of earthquakes, some lasting days or weeks, but Monday's temblor was unusual.
"A 5.3 is big for Colorado," she said.

About a dozen smaller temblors were recorded in the area in August and September 2001, Sigala said.

She said some people blamed that swarm on oil drilling in the area but that later studies proved those fears unfounded.

Colorado is no stranger to earthquakes, but most are small and go unnoticed.

According to the USGS, an earthquake in 1882 was the first to cause damage in Denver and is believed to be the largest recorded in the state.

That quake was believed to be centered in the Front Range near what is now Rocky Mountain National Park. Its magnitude was estimated to be about 6.6 on the Richter scale. It was felt as far away as Salina, Kansas, and Salt Lake City.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_18739820

_________________
Christopher

http://news.yahoo.com/quake-rocks-washington-area-felt-east-coast-181550612.html

Quake rocks Washington area, felt on East Coast
Associated Press
Tuesday 23 August 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt as far north as Rhode Island, New York City and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where President Barack Obama is vacationing.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile deep. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

It was centered near Louisa, Va., which is northwest of Richmond and south of Washington.

Obama and many of the nation's leaders were out of town on August vacation when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. EDT. The shaking was felt on the Martha's Vineyard golf course as Obama was just starting a round.

The East Coast gets earthquakes, but usually smaller ones and is less prepared than California or Alaska for shaking.
At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. Authorities announced it was an earthquake and all flights were put on hold.

At the Pentagon in northern Virginia, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building was shaking. People ran into the corridors of the government's biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"

In New York, the 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building. Court officers weren't letting people back in.

The quake came a day after an earthquake in Colorado toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico. No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday.

In Charleston, W.Va., hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily.

"The whole building shook," said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. "You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own."

In Ohio, where office buildings swayed in Columbus and Cincinnati and the press box at the Cleveland Indians' Progressive Field shook. At least one building near the Statehouse was evacuated in downtown Columbus.

In downtown Baltimore, the quake sent office workers into the streets, where lamp posts swayed slightly as they called family and friends to check in.

Social media site Twitter lit up with reports of the earthquake from people using the site up and down the U.S. eastern seaboard.

"People pouring out of buildings and onto the sidewalks and Into Farragut Park in downtown DC...," tweeted Republican strategist Kevin Madden.

"did you feel earthquake in ny? It started in richmond va!" tweeted Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill tweeted that her staff in Washington was in an "emergency location. Hope everyone is ok."

John Gurlach, air traffic controller at the Morgantown Municipal Airport was in a 40-foot-tall tower when the earth trembled.

"There were two of us looking at each other saying, 'What's that?'" he said, even as a commuter plane was landing. "It was noticeably shaking. It felt like a B-52 unloading."

Immediately, the phone rang from the nearest airport in Clarksburg, and a computer began spitting out green strips of paper — alerts from other airports in New York and Washington issuing ground stops "due to earthquake."

http://news.yahoo.com/quake-rocks-washington-area-felt-east-coast-181550612.html

_________________
Christopher

We felt it! I knew it was an earthquake as soon as I heard that ominous grumbling sound. Thank the Lord it wasn't anything really bad.

I'm in the mountains of NC... didnt feel a thing.

One thing an earthquakes does is it brings out all the "wannabe prophets"!

Krispy

Luke 21:11
There will be great earthquakes........in various places.

I felt it, too! I'm glad it wasn't very long, though! I'm about two hours from it's epicenter (the one in VA, that is).

_________________
Bill

2 things came to mind when I heard about this eartquake. First I wondered who will come out and declare this to be some kind of judgment of God?

The other thing is that is this just part of the tectonics plates moving that don't normally move very much?

It also makes me think that when Jesus died there was a great earthquake and the dead rose. Do earthquakes happen much around Israel? I don't know but it is something to think about.

_________________
John

And now a hurricane is threatening the east coast...

_________________
Sandra Miller