Two Earthquakes

bbbbbbb said:

I suppose what is most remarkable is not the intensity of the earthquake, but its location. Virginia is a very unusual location for an epicenter of an earthquake. Colorado is much more likely, but not typical.

I put the Virginia earthquake in the same category as the catestrophic blizzard in Virginia last year. One can easily come up with naturalistic reasons for these events (global climate change (note that it is no longer global warming) or fault lines) but the frequency as well as locations of these events is not at all typical.

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Unusual , kinda, but not too uncommon on the east cost.

1755, Boston/Cape Ann, Massachusetts
1811 & 1812 -- New Madrid, Missouri,
1886, Charleston, South Carolina
1895, Charleston, Missouri
1897, Giles County, Virginia
1884, New York City area
1931 -- Valentine, Texas,
1947 -- Michigan
1979 & 1980 - New York State and the adjacent areas experienced 131 earthquakes of magnitude 1 to 5.
1980, 5 earthquakes recorded north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1980, Kentucky shaken by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake.
1982 -- New Brunswick, Canada, had a magnitude 5.7 earthquake.
1982 -- Arkansas earthquake swarm starts. Eighty-eight earthquakes between June 24 and July 5, 1982. Four earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.0 to 4.5 during first 3 months of swarm. Total of about 40,000 earthquakes in the area (most very small or not felt) between 1982 and 1985.
1983 - Lake Charles, Louisiana, experienced a magnitude 3.8 earthquake.
1983 -- Indiana had a magnitude 5.9 earthquake.
1986 -- Painesville, Ohio, experienced a magnitude 4.9 earthquake and several aftershocks. The earthquake was felt in 11 states.
1987 -- Southeastern Illinois experienced a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. This area has had 7 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater since 1892.
Looks like they're not too uncommon over on the east cost though.
Earthquakes in the Midwestern and Eastern United States?!

Though nothing like over on the west cost

I have a friend who just went on vacation to Washington DC. On the day the earthquake hit. Now they can't go to most of the places they'd planned on because they're all closed til they can be inspected.
tulc(heard there was damage to the Washington Monument)

stelow said:

Seismologists across the country have been paying close attention to the Midwest as it is part of a seismic zone that produced massive earthquakes in the 1800's.

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The New Madrid Fault Line runs through seven American states including Illinois. In 1811-12 there were a series of massive earthquakes along the fault at an estimated magnitude 7. Damage to human structures was slight as the area was only lightly populated.

Yes, someday there will be another massive earthquake on the New Madrid Fault. The damagae will very probably be severe because the region is now heavily populated. And, no, it won't be because God is trying to punish mankind. Earthquakes happen.

tulc said:

I have a friend who just went on vacation to Washington DC. On the day the earthquake hit. Now they can't go to most of the places they'd planned on because they're all closed til they can be inspected.

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Tell your friend to catch a baseball game. The ballpark in DC is open: Nats play the D-backs tonight at 7:05.

I'm two hours north of Washington and the 1918 building where I work really shook. I can now cross "Survive an Earthquake" off my bucket list!

stelow said:

Why the comment about "no it won't be because God is trying to punish mankind."?

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Because there have been posts in this thread indicating that we are approaching the end times and that these earthquakes "are the beginning of birth pains." That ignores the facts that earthquakes happen naturally.