Freak Earthquake Shakes the East Coast
April 5, 2024 10:45 AM Subscribe
4.8 Shaker Strikes Whitehouse Station, NJ. Tri-State residents were surprised this morning by a rare earthquake. Although earthquakes are rare in the North East, they are not unheard of. The Ramapo Fault may be the culprit here.
I live in California but I grew up in New Jersey. And where am I today? Yes, dear reader, I flew into Newark yesterday and was standing in my mother's kitchen when we both said "hey, what? is this an earthquake?" it was pretty crazy.
The East Coast is not completely unfamiliar with quakes. In 2011 a Virginia quake rocked much of the East Coast and cracked the Washington Monument.
I live in California but I grew up in New Jersey. And where am I today? Yes, dear reader, I flew into Newark yesterday and was standing in my mother's kitchen when we both said "hey, what? is this an earthquake?" it was pretty crazy.
The East Coast is not completely unfamiliar with quakes. In 2011 a Virginia quake rocked much of the East Coast and cracked the Washington Monument.
No sense of it in Maine -- it's interesting that it showed up in Vermont. When the NJ area had its last little earthquake, I was working in a tall building in Boston. IIRC, we had to evacuate and stand around because an alarm went off or maybe just because we were told to. Any fear rapidly became annoyance.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:59 AM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 10:59 AM on April 5 [2 favorites]
Felt it this morning sitting on my couch in Western Mass. It was strong shake, stronger than the lost 18 wheelers that occasionally wander down our street and get stuck. And while the 2011 quake felt like the world went out of true for a second, this one was just a hard shake.
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:00 AM on April 5
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:00 AM on April 5
I was donating blood platelets in Providence, RI, and felt it.
First earthquake, w00t!
posted by wenestvedt at 11:03 AM on April 5 [6 favorites]
First earthquake, w00t!
posted by wenestvedt at 11:03 AM on April 5 [6 favorites]
Felt gentle shakes here in Western Mass, though my employer was concerned enough to send out an email that they felt it was safe to continue day to day business!
posted by Matthew_Deluge at 11:04 AM on April 5
posted by Matthew_Deluge at 11:04 AM on April 5
Felt it pretty good here in northern Westchester County about 50 miles from the epicenter. My chair on wheels was moving and I have 6 monitors on one pole on my desk. They were DANCING!
Was one in SF when I lived in Marin in the late 90s. This felt about the same. The one in LA I felt that woke me up from a nap was less. Once you have felt one, the next time it is obvious what it is.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:05 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Was one in SF when I lived in Marin in the late 90s. This felt about the same. The one in LA I felt that woke me up from a nap was less. Once you have felt one, the next time it is obvious what it is.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:05 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]
I'm sitting in a low-rise office building whose underground parking garage was recently closed "indefinitely" for major structural repairs. The building shook like hell for a few seconds and we were all like, okay, this is how we wind up crushed inside the parking garage, isn't it.
We are thus far un-crushed, but I'm not going to rule it out just yet.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:08 AM on April 5 [9 favorites]
We are thus far un-crushed, but I'm not going to rule it out just yet.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:08 AM on April 5 [9 favorites]
the pacific rim working group of the committee for bombastic pronouncements on metafilter (lowercase) has ruled this earthquake unacceptable and has furthermore noted that no future earthquakes east of the rocky mountains will be allowed, with an exception made for future new madrid quakes due to how that one they had a while back was totally awesome and sick.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:09 AM on April 5 [11 favorites]
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:09 AM on April 5 [11 favorites]
uncleozzy, if this is the building that has the absurdly busy ophthalmologist up front, GTFO. That place hasn’t been structurally sound since the Carter administration.
posted by dr_dank at 11:12 AM on April 5 [5 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 11:12 AM on April 5 [5 favorites]
That describes at least half the office buildings on Long Island!
posted by uncleozzy at 11:13 AM on April 5 [7 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 11:13 AM on April 5 [7 favorites]
Felt it in Hamilton, Ontario. I'm a bit higher up in an office building.
There was no damage or anything, so it was just an exciting little adventure. However, one of the office secretaries (who comes from a place where they have many earthquakes) was quite definitely getting antsy.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:14 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
There was no damage or anything, so it was just an exciting little adventure. However, one of the office secretaries (who comes from a place where they have many earthquakes) was quite definitely getting antsy.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:14 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Morris County checking in, about 20 miles from the epicenter! The husband and I had spent roughly a decade in California's Bay Area before moving back to Jersey in 2019. When we heard the house rattling this morning, it felt so much like the earthquakes we had experienced then that that was my first guess, but I couldn't believe it. We looked it up afterwards and sure enough.
Weird that both horrible wildfire smoke and earthquakes would follow us here.
posted by May Kasahara at 11:14 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Weird that both horrible wildfire smoke and earthquakes would follow us here.
posted by May Kasahara at 11:14 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Had a meeting interrupted by it. That was nice.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:17 AM on April 5 [4 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:17 AM on April 5 [4 favorites]
That describes at least half the office buildings on Long Island!
True, but those cluster of buildings on Marcus Ave are definitely your best bet to wind up on the cover of Newday. Spent enough time working at 1981 to see the various mockeries of architecture up close.
posted by dr_dank at 11:21 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
True, but those cluster of buildings on Marcus Ave are definitely your best bet to wind up on the cover of Newday. Spent enough time working at 1981 to see the various mockeries of architecture up close.
posted by dr_dank at 11:21 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Did you feel the EARTH MOVE this morning? That is but a TASTE of MY POWER. If MY DEMANDS are not met within the next 72 HOURS, then I shall BLOT OUT THE SUN. The clock is ticking.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:21 AM on April 5 [29 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:21 AM on April 5 [29 favorites]
I had a call at 11 am that was repeatedly interrupted by shrill cell phone emergency alerts informing us that...the quake had happened, 40 minutes earlier. Thanks, guys!
posted by praemunire at 11:26 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 11:26 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Eastern PA, so very close, but I didn't feel it. My family in Beantown did, though.
posted by Dashy at 11:28 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by Dashy at 11:28 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
True, but those cluster of buildings on Marcus Ave are definitely your best bet to wind up on the cover of Newday. Spent enough time working at 1981 to see the various mockeries of architecture up close.
Alright well if y'all stop hearing from me around here I either finally got fed up with the bullshit or I've been ground up and mixed with asbestos at the bottom of a hole over here.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:32 AM on April 5 [4 favorites]
Alright well if y'all stop hearing from me around here I either finally got fed up with the bullshit or I've been ground up and mixed with asbestos at the bottom of a hole over here.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:32 AM on April 5 [4 favorites]
Go into the first floor bathroom at 1999 Marcus and say “Stratton Oakmont” three times in the mirror. The ghost of Jordan Belfort will give you copious amounts of cocaine.
posted by dr_dank at 11:34 AM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 11:34 AM on April 5 [2 favorites]
Wait, so, we're experiencing... freak earthquakes, a massive solar eclipse, a lingering plague, swarms of insects on their way, a war in Israel, and a literal Antichrist running for president?
posted by dnash at 11:43 AM on April 5 [43 favorites]
posted by dnash at 11:43 AM on April 5 [43 favorites]
Twenty miles south of the epicenter, it was the first one here in central New Jersey that I've felt. The other recent large ones that I could have felt happened while I was in the car, and I didn't feel them at all. I was sitting on the couch on the ground floor thinking "Cool!". My spouse, in her office upstairs, started emphatically calling for us to get out of the house. I do wonder how differently she felt it than I did one floor up in a rickety old wood frame house.
posted by mollweide at 11:47 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by mollweide at 11:47 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Has MTG blamed immigrants yet? "Our country literally can't support more people!"
posted by Gorgik at 11:48 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]
posted by Gorgik at 11:48 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]
My house, about 90 miles N of NYC, groaned and shock for about 30 seconds, very weird! I was relieved it was not my wood stove exploding!
posted by tarantula at 11:50 AM on April 5
posted by tarantula at 11:50 AM on April 5
I’m enjoying the region-specific omens. Heehee.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 11:52 AM on April 5 [4 favorites]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 11:52 AM on April 5 [4 favorites]
I live in Queens, was using the bathroom and suddenly my entire building began to shake. It was wild! A friend in Vermont felt it, and my parents felt it in Philadelphia. I have to feel a bit for my dad who was getting his hair cut when the quake struck. He had to get a slightly shorter cut than usual because of it.
posted by SansPoint at 11:59 AM on April 5 [8 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 11:59 AM on April 5 [8 favorites]
My office is in an old converted factory made of brick near the Brooklyn Navy Yard that sways gently several times a day when large trucks go past. This was immediately obviously not that -- more of a rattling sensation, as if the building itself was speeding down a gravel road for 10 seconds.
Strangely this felt stronger than the one in 2011 that actually damaged some chimneys in the region, but I was a in a modern high rise in Midtown during that.
posted by theory at 11:59 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Strangely this felt stronger than the one in 2011 that actually damaged some chimneys in the region, but I was a in a modern high rise in Midtown during that.
posted by theory at 11:59 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
An interview with a guy who got a vasectomy during the earthquake
posted by dismas at 12:00 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
posted by dismas at 12:00 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
It was a long and rumbly one here in Philadelphia. It must have been at least 15 seconds. Way worse than 2011.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:02 PM on April 5
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:02 PM on April 5
Same, grumpybear. It was very noticeable in Philly, I was in my second floor office in my house working and it went on for like 20-30 seconds. I clocked it quickly bc I was in New York for the 2011 one so knew what an earthquake felt like.
posted by rhymedirective at 12:07 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by rhymedirective at 12:07 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
It's funny how what an earthquake feels like can vary greatly. I remember one very short quake I experienced in SF in like 2006 or 2007 which felt like a wave going slowly through the house in one direction and then snapping back in the other, followed by the sound of car alarms and people talking outside. This one, with its varying intensities and general rumbly-ness, was followed by nothing at all. Nobody was even outside talking about it.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:10 PM on April 5
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:10 PM on April 5
Just north of Boston. I thought it was an earthquake but went outside just to make sure a semi hadn't run into the side of my house.
posted by pangolin party at 12:14 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by pangolin party at 12:14 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
I mean I went out after the earthquake, not during it!
posted by pangolin party at 12:15 PM on April 5
posted by pangolin party at 12:15 PM on April 5
I sneer at puny once-in-a-decade earthquakes, for I have lived in Japan.
posted by Soliloquy at 12:17 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
posted by Soliloquy at 12:17 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
The bird site is not good for much, but the person running social media for the Empire State Building is awesome.
posted by The Bellman at 12:21 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
posted by The Bellman at 12:21 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
Happened to be doing laundry at the time and thought "Man, that washer is getting worse" then looked up and saw things shaking on the other side of the house. Irrationally, my mind went immediately to waiting for the sound of a shockwave blast to arrive.
posted by gwint at 12:23 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by gwint at 12:23 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
My family in Beantown did, though
Beantown, Maryland or that other Beantown, Maryland?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:30 PM on April 5
Beantown, Maryland or that other Beantown, Maryland?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:30 PM on April 5
My spouse and I independently first considered and discarded nuclear weapon detonation as a cause when we felt the rumble. That Cold War childhood can mess you up for a lifetime. Of course, we're near a freight line and airport, so we had to consider and discard those possibilities. By that time, it was apparent that it was an earthquake.
posted by mollweide at 12:31 PM on April 5 [6 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 12:31 PM on April 5 [6 favorites]
I missed the earthquake. It must have been indistinguishable from a truck going by.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:32 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:32 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
4.7 is a decent size. As a SoCal native, I only start caring about earthquakes if they're over 4.0.
posted by luckynerd at 12:54 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by luckynerd at 12:54 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
If you felt it, fill out the USGS form:
Did you feel it?
[Disclosure: I worked on this project back in college; I love the idea that my terrible perl code to generate these maps is still in use 25 years later....]
posted by puffyn at 12:55 PM on April 5 [23 favorites]
Did you feel it?
[Disclosure: I worked on this project back in college; I love the idea that my terrible perl code to generate these maps is still in use 25 years later....]
posted by puffyn at 12:55 PM on April 5 [23 favorites]
I hate earthquakes so much. SO MUCH It wasn't the reason I left my hometown (LA) and moved east, but it sure was a perk. I need to start protesting and get one of those "stop plate tectonics) t-shirts.
posted by atomicstone at 12:59 PM on April 5
posted by atomicstone at 12:59 PM on April 5
Also note that East coast earthquakes are felt further away than west coast quakes, and it's due to geology. (Our rocks are older and seismic waves travel better through them.)
posted by puffyn at 12:59 PM on April 5 [7 favorites]
posted by puffyn at 12:59 PM on April 5 [7 favorites]
As someone who was a geologist and did some seismology in a previous life, I'm sort-of sorry that I wasn't in NY to experience this. Glad it didn't cause too many problems, though!
So we had Taiwan, now the East Coast... I'm half expecting it to head towards London.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 1:10 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
So we had Taiwan, now the East Coast... I'm half expecting it to head towards London.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 1:10 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Meanwhile, the east coast of Taiwan got hit with a 7.2 two days ago.
posted by rory at 1:11 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by rory at 1:11 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
(Oh, if I'd seen your mention of Taiwan I wouldn't have bothered, 43rdAnd9th - figured somebody should...)
posted by rory at 1:12 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by rory at 1:12 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
from LA , now live in NYC...I was here for the 2011 earthquake but didn't feel it. I did feel this but it would be considered mild for the west coast.
Last August I was in LA for what was supposed to be my father's memorial which got preempted by the west coast hurricane; an mild earthquake hit that day too. The weird thing is that then I got the alert on my phone BEFORE the shaking, this time it took a while to get the alert.
posted by brujita at 1:24 PM on April 5
Last August I was in LA for what was supposed to be my father's memorial which got preempted by the west coast hurricane; an mild earthquake hit that day too. The weird thing is that then I got the alert on my phone BEFORE the shaking, this time it took a while to get the alert.
posted by brujita at 1:24 PM on April 5
Kinda weird that a 4.8 gets so much press, but I suppose from an information theoretic perspective it is more surprising than the 4.4 in Beldon, CA yesterday or the 5.0 in Japan.
posted by pwnguin at 1:27 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by pwnguin at 1:27 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
I don't remember the 71 earthquake ( I was a toddler and was told that I slept through it) and was at grad school in IA when the 94 one hit.
posted by brujita at 1:54 PM on April 5
posted by brujita at 1:54 PM on April 5
When I moved to NY State from CA I was amazed this place (Finger Lakes region, kinds "upstate-ish") is filled with brick buildings . Old brick buildings. If there's ever a big quake it's going to be a mess.
posted by cccorlew at 2:01 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by cccorlew at 2:01 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
Is now the time to mention the New Madrid fault? A failed mid-continent rift covered in sediment is just itching to rock our world.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:19 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:19 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Both my roommate and I were working from home today here in Brooklyn. Our old apartment was on the 4th floor next to the BQE, and when I felt it I first thought "oh, it's just a truck going by" because that would make our old apartment shake slightly. But then I remembered a) we're not in that apartment any more, and b) this was going on too long for it to be just a truck, unless it was a whole convoy. My houseplants trembled, that was it.
But then the second it ended, I ran out of my room just as my roommate was coming up the stairs from his room, and we nearly simultaneously asked each other: "Did you feel that too???" He also had the same "it's just a truck", but then realized - the floor was shaking. "And I'm in the basement," he said, "and so that was a problem because my floor is THE FUCKING EARTH."
My immediate boss is in Montreal at the moment, and said when it happened she was on a zoom call with three other people here back in New York and suddenly saw all three of them start shaking on their respective screens. Which must have been odd.
Our company closed down all offices for the rest of the day shortly after it happened so various security teams could investigate and make sure there was no damage. My roommate also head to his office at noon, "to check the office for Earthquake damage. And, I gotta say, that was a sentence I never thought I'd say."
Everyone I know on Facebook has already taken to cracking jokes; a friend of mine posted a photo of her slightly askew bird feeder with a tongue-in-cheek caption about how New York will stand strong and rebuild.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:32 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
But then the second it ended, I ran out of my room just as my roommate was coming up the stairs from his room, and we nearly simultaneously asked each other: "Did you feel that too???" He also had the same "it's just a truck", but then realized - the floor was shaking. "And I'm in the basement," he said, "and so that was a problem because my floor is THE FUCKING EARTH."
My immediate boss is in Montreal at the moment, and said when it happened she was on a zoom call with three other people here back in New York and suddenly saw all three of them start shaking on their respective screens. Which must have been odd.
Our company closed down all offices for the rest of the day shortly after it happened so various security teams could investigate and make sure there was no damage. My roommate also head to his office at noon, "to check the office for Earthquake damage. And, I gotta say, that was a sentence I never thought I'd say."
Everyone I know on Facebook has already taken to cracking jokes; a friend of mine posted a photo of her slightly askew bird feeder with a tongue-in-cheek caption about how New York will stand strong and rebuild.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:32 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
Southern NJ (outside of Philly) here. The windows rattled and the hanging plants started to sway. I said to my coworker via Teams "I think we're having an earthquake?" And she (Pennsylvania, but further north) said "YES! My house is shaking!"
I do not pay these NJ taxes to have to deal with earthquakes! ;)
posted by kimberussell at 2:34 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
I do not pay these NJ taxes to have to deal with earthquakes! ;)
posted by kimberussell at 2:34 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
I was driving a utility golf cart on a road with a lot of potholes in the Bronx and missed the whole darn thing.
posted by sciencegeek at 2:42 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by sciencegeek at 2:42 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
If I were in the Bronx and wanted to simulate an earthquake, I would drive a golf cart over the many potholes. I am not so sure you missed it, sciencegeek.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:47 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:47 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
I have it on good authority from some people who can't wait for the world to end that the fact that the earthquake was 4.8 magnitude and the eclipse will be on 4/8 means that Jesus is coming back.
posted by clawsoon at 2:52 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 2:52 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
*snerk*
Another friend on Facebook early on posted to say, "uh, I'm marking myself safe from whatever the fuck just happened."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:55 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Another friend on Facebook early on posted to say, "uh, I'm marking myself safe from whatever the fuck just happened."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:55 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Aaaaaaaaaaand I think I just felt an aftershock here in NYC now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:59 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:59 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
(oh, an aftershock just happened!)
posted by nobody at 3:00 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by nobody at 3:00 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Huh, we may have just had an aftershock.
posted by mollweide at 3:00 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by mollweide at 3:00 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Just had an aftershock. I felt that one.
posted by May Kasahara at 3:00 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by May Kasahara at 3:00 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
Now I'm concerned. This brick building I'm sitting in is not like my apartment in Japan, which easily made it through 2011 and a whole bunch of little ones after.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:02 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
posted by betweenthebars at 3:02 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Aftrershock here in Westchester. Pretty strong too. Almost as strong to me as the initial shock. Reported as a 4.0.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:14 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:14 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
I work at a hospital in Philadelphia, and my office is in the main inpatient building. Neither me nor any of my five office-mates felt anything at all, but our colleagues in the nearby building that’s all admin and outpatient offices did, as did many folks in my neighborhood.
Glad to know the hospital’s sturdy at least!
posted by ActionPopulated at 3:51 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Glad to know the hospital’s sturdy at least!
posted by ActionPopulated at 3:51 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Has MTG blamed immigrants yet? "Our country literally can't support more people!"
You decide:
God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent.
Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come.
I pray that our country listens. 🙏
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:00 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
You decide:
God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent.
Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come.
I pray that our country listens. 🙏
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:00 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Earthquakes and eclipses
and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:10 PM on April 5 [6 favorites]
and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:10 PM on April 5 [6 favorites]
Somebody needs to take an Earth science and/or astronomy class.
posted by mollweide at 4:13 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 4:13 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
I didn't notice the 2011 one in Pennsylvania (was teaching) and wouldn't have noticed this one (I live a block away from a freight line and in Philly a heavy truck can make a whole house rumble) but I was over at my adult kid's house a few blocks from my house and my kid's work-from-home spouse said, "WHAT WAS THAT?" part way through, so we paid attention. And of course all my kid's friends from all over started texting.
posted by Peach at 4:22 PM on April 5
posted by Peach at 4:22 PM on April 5
God is sending[...]strong signs to tell us to repent.
Why don't they repent already then!
posted by nobody at 4:35 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Why don't they repent already then!
posted by nobody at 4:35 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
In Bucks County PA and the whole house shook for 30 seconds. I was torn between thinking this was an earthquake or a nuclear detonation somewhere on the Eastern Seaboard. Neighbors assured me that this was not an earthquake but something sinister covered up by the government.
posted by mfoight at 4:42 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
posted by mfoight at 4:42 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come.
I like the reader-added context for that one:
posted by clawsoon at 4:48 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
I like the reader-added context for that one:
Earthquakes happen all the time, all around the world, we can follow them realtime using USGS resources:...although it does leave out the possibility that God is a fellow of very regular habits who knows that we'll be sinning for at least the next 3000 years and has decided to automate his warnings for us to repent.
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ma…
Eclipses are not random, they follow strict mathematical rules and can be predicted centuries before they happen. NASA has a site listing eclipses until the year 3000.
eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcat5/SEcatal…
posted by clawsoon at 4:48 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
4.8? That's a cute little quake.
posted by mike3k at 5:16 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
posted by mike3k at 5:16 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]
Go into the first floor bathroom at 1999 Marcus and say “Stratton Oakmont” three times in the mirror. The ghost of Jordan Belfort will give you copious amounts of cocaine.
Yeah, but then you're stuck doing copious amounts of cocaine with the ghost of Jordan Belfort.
posted by loquacious at 5:30 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Yeah, but then you're stuck doing copious amounts of cocaine with the ghost of Jordan Belfort.
posted by loquacious at 5:30 PM on April 5 [3 favorites]
Always Be Frackin’
posted by caviar2d2 at 5:45 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
posted by caviar2d2 at 5:45 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
it could be triggered by the excessive amount of rain we've gotten the last few days. there's two reservoirs right by the cluster and here's a neat graph of the water table suddenly dipping.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/403517074452501/#parameterCode=72019&period=P7D&showMedian=true
posted by Clowder of bats at 10:34 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/403517074452501/#parameterCode=72019&period=P7D&showMedian=true
posted by Clowder of bats at 10:34 PM on April 5 [5 favorites]
> Oh no, aftershocks!
it has been brought to the attention of the committee that additional earthquakes (“aftershocks”) occurred after their pronouncement was issued. there is no remaining option but to declare the entire eastern seaboard unmutual. punishments and/or reprisals will be dispensed.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:18 PM on April 5
it has been brought to the attention of the committee that additional earthquakes (“aftershocks”) occurred after their pronouncement was issued. there is no remaining option but to declare the entire eastern seaboard unmutual. punishments and/or reprisals will be dispensed.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:18 PM on April 5
I live seven miles from Whitehouse Station and didn’t feel a thing. Probably because I’m on vacation in Mallorca right now.😉
Having grown up in California and also lived in Oregon for many years, earthquakes are nothing new to me. I’ve been out of town for the few that have been felt on the Eastern Seaboard since I moved there 13 years ago. I’m ok with missing them.
posted by jvbthegolfer at 11:18 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
Having grown up in California and also lived in Oregon for many years, earthquakes are nothing new to me. I’ve been out of town for the few that have been felt on the Eastern Seaboard since I moved there 13 years ago. I’m ok with missing them.
posted by jvbthegolfer at 11:18 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]
I grew up on the other side of Hunterdon County and my dad still lives there. Based on his reaction and the fervent activity on the Hunterdon County Facebook page (which they graciously still let me stay in), this is the most exciting event there in at least 20 years, maybe since the Lindbergh trial.
posted by Gumshoe Grimshaw at 2:21 AM on April 6 [6 favorites]
posted by Gumshoe Grimshaw at 2:21 AM on April 6 [6 favorites]
Remember the MAGA store owner who pulled a gun on his own customer for wearing a mask into his store during the pandemic?
Well, I do.
His name is Scott Cerkoney, and HE believes the quake was caused by men wearing dresses.
Not even kidding.
posted by chronkite at 6:33 AM on April 6
Well, I do.
His name is Scott Cerkoney, and HE believes the quake was caused by men wearing dresses.
Not even kidding.
posted by chronkite at 6:33 AM on April 6
The rain hypothesis is interesting. Not only did Central and Northern New Jersey get 4 inches of rain this week alone, we're up about 8 inches over normal since the beginning of the year. The closest reservoir to the epicenter is located in a circular valley, and the surface of reservoir is pretty high above the surrounding area. It's not really rainfed, though, as water needs to be pumped into it to keep it filled most of the time. It was quite a bit lower than normal until recently though, as they had lowered the level to do some work on the dams.
posted by mollweide at 11:29 AM on April 6
posted by mollweide at 11:29 AM on April 6
Having grown up in California and also lived in Oregon for many years, earthquakes are nothing new to me.
I've spent 3 months or more a year in southern California for the past 14 years, and I've still never felt a noticeable earthquake. They had a notable one about a year or two ago, where it shook up my northern LA's relatives' homes, but I was not there then.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:03 PM on April 7
I've spent 3 months or more a year in southern California for the past 14 years, and I've still never felt a noticeable earthquake. They had a notable one about a year or two ago, where it shook up my northern LA's relatives' homes, but I was not there then.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:03 PM on April 7
I've spent 3 months or more a year in southern California for the past 14 years, and I've still never felt a noticeable earthquake.
There was one a few days ago. However you likely won't notice the small ones unless you are really near the epicenter or live 4 or more stories up.
posted by pwnguin at 12:29 AM on April 8
There was one a few days ago. However you likely won't notice the small ones unless you are really near the epicenter or live 4 or more stories up.
posted by pwnguin at 12:29 AM on April 8
The epicenter of the earthquake was about 5km down, though. I don't think this was a rainfall thing.
I've lived in New Jersey for about half a century and we do get perceptible earthquakes sometimes, though the last two I recall both centered in Virginia. This one got a lot of attention because 4.8 is about as big as they get around here and it happened during the middle of a work day so a lot of people noticed.
The neatest thing for me is that I was on a call with someone closer to the epicenter and watched him react to the quake and only felt it myself after it ended for him. We were roughly 15 and 30 miles from the epicenter, respectively.
posted by Karmakaze at 11:19 AM on April 8 [1 favorite]
I've lived in New Jersey for about half a century and we do get perceptible earthquakes sometimes, though the last two I recall both centered in Virginia. This one got a lot of attention because 4.8 is about as big as they get around here and it happened during the middle of a work day so a lot of people noticed.
The neatest thing for me is that I was on a call with someone closer to the epicenter and watched him react to the quake and only felt it myself after it ended for him. We were roughly 15 and 30 miles from the epicenter, respectively.
posted by Karmakaze at 11:19 AM on April 8 [1 favorite]
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posted by jessamyn at 10:51 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]