Anyone else just feel the earthquake? Where are you and what did you feel?

I am in northern NJ. I didn’t feel a thing and neither did anyone else in my household, but yet everyone a town over felt it. Hm.

@janbb Upstate NY, just getting ready to sit down when it started. I had to hold on to the desk for a few seconds. That was freaky.

Fifteen seconds of shaka-shaka-shaka, In eastern North Carolina.

Just heard it on the radio, I’m on the wrong continent to feel it though. :p

Jan, dear,, this is the third Q on this topic today!

I was about to suggest that we go outside (brick building—not good in earthquakes) when it subsided. Our building shook and swayed quite a bit.

Hell, I’ve had to admit this at work, so I might as well here, too.

I was in the bathroom. I had just sat on the stool and “got to it”. I thought the bolts holding the toilet to the floor were corroded or loose, and it was me causing localized shaking. I tried to be very careful not to tip it over, and ten seconds later it shook again. I was sure that I’d be ending up on the floor half naked, all wet and covered in shit, so I got out of there as quickly as I could.

Then I had to run to a meeting anyway, and since I couldn’t be found in my cubicle, there were a lot of jokes that I had run home afraid or something. So when I came back from my meeting I had to tell the story above to everyone here at work who had been laughing about “Where did CWOTUS run off to?”

There. Are you happy now?

Our house shook quite a bit, apparently. I, um, slept right through it.

I missed it. Zuppy didn’t, he ran in circles barking. Good dog.

@marinelife You know, it showed me other earthquake questions, but none from today so I guess Fluther just can’t keep up with topical topics.

My son in Pa. felt it. As a California boy who still remembers the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, he wasn’t impressed.

I was in my thirties before I felt my first quake, here in Northern Cal. I was impressed. I had lived through countless blizzards and hurricanes and more in the Northeast, but I’d never literally felt the earth move before. It really affected my view of things. “Holy s—t” didn’t cover it.

Someone sent me this link about the devastation in Washington, D.C..

Thanks for that link, @Jeruba. Loved it.

I’m sure that if I watch the news on TV tonight (and I can’t think why I’d break a ten-year record of avoiding that), then I’d be ready to hear about a tsunami on the Potomac, and all kinds of problems.

I think a quake that leveled Washington DC would be a huge boon to our economy. We might want it to happen more often.

Yes. It scared the crap outta me! Scarred for life!

I felt it in WV.

I live in New York. I was cooking downstairs and felt nothing.
My husband was on the Computer upstairs. He said the Computer, chair and floor shook.

I live 45 miles from the epicenter, but I was in my car driving and didn’t feel a thing!

@erichw1504 Most of the people up here in NY really felt it. I’m on the third floor of a five story building and this thing was swaying big time.

My whole house shook for a few seconds. It was the most disorienting feeling.

@janbb
I have a friend from college that lived in Campbell CA. for many years. I heard all his stories. I remember in detail what he told me about the one in 1989.
I saw it on TV During the World Series in 1989. Later on my friend described how he stood in the Doorway of his home while it crumbled.
Can anyone explain how I determine if a doorway is strong enough to stand under? What doorways carry the load?
The people in tall buildings in NY. felt it most.
Years ago I studied the Theory of Plate Tectonics in college. I am still unpaired. Most New Yorkers are.
This morning I heard the the Hurricane may affect the US. One day one may affect NY. I fear we are unprepared. This one may affect Cape May NJ.
I think this means we should all be more aware that we do not control our Environment. Not completly and there is still much that is not totally understood.

@philosopher Most interior doorways are safe to stand under. Brick buildings are more dangerous than wooden structures. You do not want to go outside while the shaking is still going on because live wires can snap and fissures can open in the Earth.

As for hurricanes, unless your area is threatened by a storm surge (waves), and the storm is a category 3 or greater when it hits, you are probably OK waiting out the winds. Get in an interior room with a matresss to pull over your head to cushion you against falling debris.

@marinelife
Thank you I have heard these things many times. I look them up on line but I fear real life is always full of unknowns.
The people in tall buildings in NYC ran downstairs because the buildings were shaking. I wonder what they should have done? Was there any place safe for them?
They remember 9/11 and they should.
My autistic son might night stay under the mattress.
NY. and all of us should be better prepared.

@philosopher Many years ago when I lived in NYC, several hurricanes struck. The big thing was that the power went out. So, if I were you, I would prepare for that.

Getting back to the question about why doorways are good to stand in during earthquakes, you’d know this if you saw a building in construction (before the wall boards go up) and thought about it a bit. If you click on the photo on this site you’ll get an idea of what I mean.

Door openings are generally double-studded. That is, there’s a stud going from floor to ceiling on either side of the door opening, and inside of that are two shorter studs (one on either side) with a “header beam” resting on top of them. Essentially, the doorway is a reinforced box with no bottom or top, placed on its end. It’s one of the strongest parts of the structure. (The “door” may or may not be strong, but the doorway opening in the frame is very well reinforced.) Since you have two vertical studs reinforcing each other and a strong header beam right over your head, you’re protected from things falling from the ceiling (including roofing and ceiling joists themselves) which are the primary killers to be aware of in buildings.

If the building is going to be flattened, then a door is no better than any other part of the structure, and you’re better off in a field somewhere. Most structures are not “flattened” though, if they’ve been properly built to modern building codes that are relevant to the area, based on its seismic history and expectation. So “as the building begins to shake apart”, and before it comes down completely, that doorway is the best place to be.

In the image at the website above, the narrow doorway to the right (a normal passageway door), you can see what I mean with the doubled vertical studs and the reinforced header beam. The wide door (apparently a garage door) has triple studs and a much wider (deeper) header beam. (The narrow doorway is the place to be.)

Also, if you’re on your feet and in a doorway, you have movement options, too. Hiding under a bed or desk, you have zero options when things start to come down.

@marinelife
Yes we have had outrages. We had one in March 2010. After an insane Spring storm. Con Edison does not do a decent job.
I wish I could have a Bloombox. My sister in law put in a Generator.
They don’t call what we get Hurricanes. They call them Nor Easters. The winds are not hurricane force.
If this city gets one like they do down in Florida I fear for our life’s.
Thank you marinelife for your thoughts.

Supposed to go outside during earth quakes

@AmyKat Actually you’re not.

@Jeruba Re: your link It has certainly been a difficult week for resin lawn furniture. One of Irene’s victims, in Bethany Beach, DE. It’s tragic, this one lying the street face down, like no one even cares.

Damn, delawareonline.com messed up the chair link.