We had an earthquake this morning a bit before 10:30AM. 4.8 on the Richter scale centered in Northern NJ. Shook all of the city and Long Island. I was in the Westbury Costco doing some shopping, and did not feel a thing. If I didn't hear it on the radio in my car as I was heading to Bruno's house to visit with Stephanie, I wouldn't have believed it even happened. Stephanie said it scared her a lot. Called my neighbors and they said the same thing. No damage that I have heard of to this point. Lucky. https://www.aol.com/4-8-magnitude-earthquake-rattles-143936165.html
Wife and I were sitting at the table when the house shook and some stuff rattled. I looked at her and she said earth quake. Seems when she lived on the west coast she got used to what they felt like and called it.
Wild, didnt know what it since never experienced thought aircraft or a big gust of winds, 40 miles west here of epicenter. Nothing near what my son experienced in a tornado in TN 4 years ago though.
Y'all on the east are not used to the earth moving. Probably freaked a lot of people out. I still vividly remember the near 7.0 in northern California in '89. I was 13 and bundling newspapers on my driveway for my afternoon paper route. All of a sudden the ground started rippling, not moving, actually rippling up and down. it felt like I was on a rollercoaster, literally. My mom's 280Z was lunging back and forth and it looked like it was going to start moving. Two large rollaway tool chests, loaded full, starting rolling out of the garage. Stuff falling off of shelving and out of the rafters. Lots of banging and cracking noises throughout the neighborhood. Being a native Californian, I've experienced multiple earthquakes during my life but that 1989 shaker was absolutely terrifying.
Thought the boiler or air handlers were acting up, maybe a big truck rolling up to the house. Then it got louder and then the whole house was shaking. Knew it was an earthquake then. Only two frames with awards in them fell off my bookcase, everything else was fine. It lasted about 30 seconds start to finish. Was quite an experience. I have felt low rumblers before. They say it was the highest earthquake scale in a over a hundred years. The only one recorded that was higher in the NYC/NYS area was a 5.1 in 1787
I'm about 35 miles south of the epicenter - first I thought a huge tree was falling on the roof, but the sound was omni-directional. Few secs later, the vibrations, and I knew. I have 7 fenders overhead in the trusses of my shop... but nothing moved.
Did a 7.2 in American Samoa back in ~1979. I was playing with legos on the tile floor, and the next thing I knew I was flapping around looking from the ceiling to the floor with no control of anything. I was like 4, so still was a rubberband.
I remember getting woken up by the sound of a train in the middle of the night in northern NJ in 1973 - I was seven. I understand the area has them now and again, but most aren't strong enough to be felt.
It sounded and shook the house like a large locomotive was going by. Beth was walking down the steps and saw everything in the Living room shaking. We are just south of Philly. Duane
When I was Stationed in Japan from 1980 to 1986, we had a 7.8 quake in 1983. Thought the office building was coming down on top of us. We would get 6.0 quakes on a regular basis. Then Typhoon season would hit. I was glad to get out of there, even thou my wife, daughter and I really liked Japan a lot. We lived on the economy so all our neighbors were Japanese. My wife had invited the Japanese ladies over for lunch and I thought it would be funny to bring out my samurai shord (a repo). Not a good idea, the ladies freaked out. My wife, not happy.
I have felt three here in Seattle, the Nisqually quake in 2001 was the most frightening. I was washing dishes in the kitchen, and thought I heard a large truck passing... But it didn't seem to approach. I turned of the water and stepped into the living room, where I could hear a squeak,sqeak, squeak sound coming from the I-beam where is connects to the wall. I ran outside. I was barefoot, and standing in the yard, I could FEEL the ground waving beneath my feet, and I could see the cars in the driveway swaying side to side. I believe that was a 6.8?
A quake big enough to have a "story" but small enough that rollaway toolboxes aren't exiting your garage sounds fair. In Kentucky, I worry about the New Madrid Fault. So does the insurance company as they pulled it from our standard coverage some years back.
I've felt a few small ones, usually just a long rumble that rattles the walls. I was driving during this last one and missed it.
The Nisqually 6.8 Max mentioned above, I was unloading pulp sheets from a boxcar which involves a big fork/clamp truck and lots of banging around in a train car on springs... I picked up some squares and set them on top of another set and watched as the two I just placed up there fell off somehow? I told myself , self it's time for a break... I back out of the boxcar and see people lined up on the road watching me drive by like nothing happened! Turns out they had evacuated the mill and I never felt a thing!!
It was on my bucket list. I'm in Mid-Atlantic & missed one when I was a teen. Lived in the basement & left & was in the car & missed it by a few minutes. Was in CA many times in the early 2000's & was hoping to experience one there but never happened. But in 2010 I was at my desk in a old warehouse & thought it was a big dump truck driving by but the shaking continued. I realized what it was & just as I was heading for the door (didn't think the building would withstand much) it stopped. That was a strong enough one to satisfy my curiosity!
