# East Coast Earthquake!



## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

We were interrupted at work this afternoon by a 5.9 earthquake, which of course, never happens here. You've never seen so many scared people looking around saying, "Ahhh, what are we supposed to do?" After about a minute of shaking, we evacuated the building and everyone went home. 

When I got home, many things had fallen off the living room shelves, including a couple heavier things that must have made a huge bang when they fell. Poor Murphy was still huddled scared under a bed in the basement. Even with a lot of coaxing and a few treats, he won't come upstairs. He just keeps staring up the stairs, like there must be something evil up there. Poor thing, he's really shaken. 

Who else felt it?


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## Rebbie (Jul 11, 2011)

I did! I thought it was a train going by, though something felt 'off' about that idea. Someone next to me thought it was a earthquake but I was just like 'pfft, a earthquake in central VA? Are ya kidding me?'

Well, guess I know what a earthquake feels like now.


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

Poor baby boy!! Give him a snuggle for me!


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

Give Murphy lots of affection and he'll be all right. 

They (most of they anyway) tend to go by our behaviour. When Zenobi was still alive, I went out front to do some work during a windstorm.. She came out, too, but there was fear in her eyes. She lost no time getting back inside when she saw I was going in. 

Back in May when I had a new roof put on the house Missy was terrified at the apparent monsters overhead, but she calmed down easily in the evenings. 

Poor guy.


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## Greenport ferals (Oct 30, 2010)

I was selling fruit at a farmer's market near Albany when it hit, around 2 pm. There was a garage nearby; people having a tag sale were sitting inside. Suddenly they came running out, yelling "Earthquake! Earthquake!" I just looked at them. I didn't feel a thing. 
The woman selling vegetables next to me said she felt dizzy for a moment. It was kind of fun to be there in a public place for the next four hours, listening to cutomer's accounts of their earthquake experience.


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

I was at work on the 7th floor of a high rise and my desk, the floor, and the whole office shook. At first, I thought it was construction upstairs. We have new tenants that moved in and a few weeks ago, there was jack-hammering before so I just attributed it to that, but then we began to get reports in that it was also felt in Bronx as well as other counties. Then, it was the realization of if it was that mild where we were, that meant we only felt a tremor and it must have hit big somewhere else.


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## Julie Carvill (Jun 30, 2010)

I work in Albany NY. I am not too sure how far away I was from Greenport. The building where I work was shaking and things were rattling. My parents live just a few miles away in Loudonville, and my stepdad felt nothing.
My cats were home alone 15 miles away at my apartment. Everything looks fine here. My one cat goes crazy right before thunderstorms and snowstorms. I don't know how she reacted this afternoon because I was not here.


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

It's funny I just asked my daughter what were the cats doing while it happened since she was home and she said all my cats were sleeping...lol...figures!


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## Beckie210789 (May 9, 2011)

I was at work with a client when it started. The best way to put it was that it felt like there was a huge football team running from one side of the building to the next, and the floor (as we're on the ground floor) felt like there were invisible people all around me doing jumping jacks. I had never been in an earthquake before, and it scared the daylights out of me. As soon as I finished up with my client, I had to step outside and take a breather, I was shaking so hard. As far as I know, my cats had no reaction, except now, ever since then, they have been getting on the kitchen counters and yowling at the ceiling. Strange if you ask me... 

Of course, saying a cat is strange, is also like stating that a cat has fur, 4 legs, and a tail.


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## Ritzpg (Dec 7, 2010)

*Earthquake,Hurricane; what next: Locusts?*

I work in Washington, DC, and yeah I felt it and saw it--the walls swayed. Being on the 6th floor of a 13 story building, yeah, I evacuated the building.
Obviously I was not home to observe how Ritz reacted. On another site, it was suggested that your cat will react the same why he reacts to thunderstorms; in which case, Ritz no doubt crawled under the bed and stayed there for a while.
When I got home from work (a little late), Ritz was hungry but her behavior a little "off". She had not eaten any of the food I left her (very unusual). I fed her; she ate; she threw up (a somewhat recurring problem--an issue for a separate post). Her behavior was back to normal beginning around midnight.
The eight feral/stray cats I fed acted purfectly normal.
Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene may impact the DC area this weekend. Ritz does not like the sound of heavy rain on the roof, so we're in for some interesting times. I learned from the last strong thunderstorm that she does NOT like to be petted or comforted during a storm; she darted away when I tried to console her. I'll just have to make sure she has access to hidey-holes, like under the bed or sofa. And let her come to me for comfort.
NOW if there were locusts, she's love them--she loves to hunt bugs.


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## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

my wife said yeti was acting strange, she picked him up to put him in the bedroom with the other cats, the shaking then started and he freaked, tossed him in the room and went to see how many scratches she had..


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## chasekwe (May 5, 2011)

My new kittens don't get here until October so I have no cat reactions but I also live in Albany, NY. It was amusing because my entire family was in different areas around here during the hurricane. My Mom, down on the SUNY campus, had her building shake badly enough that they evacuated it. Whereas I didn't feel anything, and I was talking with a friend online as it was shaking at his place in NYC so it isn't as if I was asleep or spacing out or anything while the earthquake was happening.

In any event, about 10 miles apart for the difference between evacuation and feeling nothing.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

We have an employee in New York City and we're in DC, and the weird thing is that we were feeling the earthquake at the exact same time. The two people on the phone were saying, "Did you feel that? Did you feel that?" It's hard to get your mind around something being felt at the same time so far apart.


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## NRD (Mar 31, 2010)

Did I feel it? It scared the bejeesus out of me by the time it ended!

I was at my computer upstairs in my house, in suburban Maryland outside of Washington, DC, when it hit. I had had workmen on ladders outside until an hour before it hit, so my first thought was, "what are the workmen doing?". I have five bookshelves to my right, with sculptures on them, and as the shaking intensified, everything started rattling, and one sculpture fell off and broke. Just before it ended, the house was shaking so violently I was looking at the window to see if the walls were starting to crack. They weren't.

As for my Fab Four, no discernible reaction ahead of time. I ran out the front door into the parking lot of my townhouse community once it was over, and so did several of my neighbors. I don't know if Blizzy and Little Hersh were spooked by the shaking or by my own reaction, but for the next hour or so, whenever I came near them, they stared at me and slinked away. Hersh and Snowby acted as if it was no big deal.

The local National Public Radio station just had an interview with an animal behaviorist with the National Zoo. Many animals there reacted about 10-15 seconds before the quake hit, according to keepers and visitors. Gorillas dropped their food and ran to higher ground. Flamingos huddled together and went into the water. Ducks ran into the water, followed by the beavers as soon as the quake hit (beavers don't react as quickly, for some reason). There was a report the lemurs started issuing alarm calls 15 minutes ahead, but the behaviorist said lemurs issue alarm calls frequently, so she discounts that one. On another radio station, a man in Virginia reported his dog started running wildly around the house about 20 seconds before the quake.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

That's so interesting. NRD, you know you and I were feeling the exact same thing! The funny thing was the evacuation of the building. Like good little soldiers, our building's people went out and crossed the street to another building, and the other building crossed the street to us. Neither of this has anything to do with earthquakes, of course -- the thing we should have done was get away from buildings!

Murphy's reaction sounds worse than what most of you are describing of your kitties. I don't know what scared him more, the sound of things crashing off the shelves or the earthquake itself. He still wasn't himself this morning.


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## NRD (Mar 31, 2010)

Murphy probably was still agitated because he didn't have you around to reassure him everything was all right. It's fear of the unknown, I suppose--he has no idea if and when it will happen again. I think it's like my guys not being afraid during thunderstorms, even when the lightning crackles near us, because I stay calm and tell them I hear it but everything is all right. Who knows, if I weren't there the first few times they heard the thunder, they might be much more skittish about it now.

Hopefully Murphy will be fine again by tonight, when he sees everything is still back to "normal".


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## RowdyAndMalley (Aug 9, 2010)

Due to the unusual severity of the quake that hit near DC, the GOP representatives in the House called an emergency session and adopted a bill to rename the fault that runs under the Capital. It will now be known as Obama's Fault.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

RowdyAndMalley said:


> Due to the unusual severity of the quake that hit near DC, the GOP representatives in the House called an emergency session and adopted a bill to rename the fault that runs under the Capital. It will now be known as Obama's Fault.


Love it, the first earthquake joke!


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

NRD said:


> Murphy probably was still agitated because he didn't have you around to reassure him everything was all right. It's fear of the unknown, I suppose--he has no idea if and when it will happen again. I think it's like my guys not being afraid during thunderstorms, even when the lightning crackles near us, because I stay calm and tell them I hear it but everything is all right. Who knows, if I weren't there the first few times they heard the thunder, they might be much more skittish about it now.
> 
> Hopefully Murphy will be fine again by tonight, when he sees everything is still back to "normal".


It sure doesn't make any difference when I try to comfort him during a thunderstorm. I say every kind of "It's okay" to him in the most soothing tone of voice I can do, and he still runs like a scared chicken down to the basement. I guess what I do couldn't hurt, but it doesn't seem to help either. I hope you're right that he's back to normal tonight! I want my goofy kitty back.


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

RowdyAndMalley said:


> Due to the unusual severity of the quake that hit near DC, the GOP representatives in the House called an emergency session and adopted a bill to rename the fault that runs under the Capital. It will now be known as Obama's Fault.


I saw this one on Facebook:

Breaking News: it's just been established by the Obama Administration that the Washington D.C. Earthquake occurred on a rare and obscure faultline, apparently known as "Bush's Fault".


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## Salemcat2 (Dec 28, 2010)

I live in North Carolina and happen to be home sick yesterday. I was lying on one end of my recliner couch when suddenly I felt a vibration underneath me. I thought that Dagny had gotten under the couch and was scratching himself really fast or playing under there. Then I looked and at the other end of the couch lay Dagny, seeming to have awakened from his nap and obviously wondering what it was also. I live next to an active train track, so am use to vibration, but I didn't hear anything. Also, we live in an area where army and air force planes and helicopters often go by overhead, but I didn't hear anything. It was so weird. Then my mom called a little later saying we had an earthquake!! Wow, unbelievable!! I'll never forget where I was and who I shared it with!!


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## Ritzpg (Dec 7, 2010)

*Aftershocks*

I was not home when the "Big One" hit Washington, DC area, so I could not observe how Ritz reacted.
Well, fast forward to 1 a.m. this morning (Thursday). I just happen to wake up and as usual Ritz was beside me in bed, also awake. Suddenly I heard a rumbling sound going across the roof. Ritz did a anxious meow and darted off the bed.
The aftershock registered 4.5 and lasted around 5 to 15 seconds. I can't imagine was poor Ritz went through during Tuesday's earthquake, which registered 5.8 and lasted 45 seconds.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

That's a good point. We've had something like 4 aftershocks since Tuesday, but none of them were strong enough to feel (for us) until 1:00 a.m. this morning. I woke up at 1:00-something this morning, but now realize that might be because I felt something! 

Poor Murphy, he doesn't know what's going on. I wonder if they're able to feel the smaller aftershocks that we aren't?


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## Ritzpg (Dec 7, 2010)

*Locusts are next*

October, good question, but I would guess YES since I believe their hearing is much better than humans.
At least I'll be home for what ever we get from Hurricane Irene. But actually Ritz does NOT like me to initiate comforting, like I did once (and, only once) during a thunderstorm. She ran away when I tried to pet her, a calming move I'd thought. 
I happen to love the rain and thunderstorms; I wish/hope she picked up on that from me.


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## Des_Esseintes (Nov 27, 2009)

I live all the way over in Michigan, and we felt it (albeit very slightly) even here.


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

I was at work (in Gaithersburg, MD) and I heard a rumbling. At first I thought it was workmen on the roof. Then the rumbling got louder and everything in my desk started to rattle and my monitor bobbed around. Then the building started swaying and the chair I was sitting in started rolling back and forth a few inches. I got up and stood in the doorway of my office. Contrary to what you would think, you shouldn't evacuate during and earthquake. You should hunker down under something solid, away from windows and wait it out.

I don't know how my kitties reacted but they were fine when I got home. Teddy greeted me at the door as always and Leo just watched me from his perch in the bunk over my futon.


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