May 6, 2008
Small Earthquake Felt in D.C. and Northern Virginia
Subscribers to the Arlington Alert email list received a message earlier with the news that some event in Northern Virginia this afternoon registered on the richter scale.
The National Earthquake Information Center, via FEMA Operations, is reporting that Northern VA has experienced rumblings equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 2 to 3. It remains unclear if this was an actual earthquake, or due to another cause. Arlington OEM will continue to monitor.Did you feel the rumble?
We're still waiting for absolute confirmation that an earthquake did not occur, but have been hearing from multiple sources that the shaking was the result of underground blasting at Ft. Belvoir. Indeed, The AP via NBC4 reported last week that demolition experts would be working today and Friday to dislodge large rocks that are blocking construction of a new headquarters for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. There is some question though, whether these underground explosions could have been felt in such a large range around the blasts and at such a magnitude. We'll update when we hear more.
UPDATE: The U.S. Geological Survey rates the rumble at 1.8 on the richter scale, and having occurred at 1:30:23 p.m.
UPDATE II: The U.S. Geological Survey is placing the epicenter of the rumble at 1 mile southwest of Annandale. Ft. Belvoir is located 15 miles south of Annandale. WTOP is going ahead and calling this event an earthquake, even though officials at Ft. Belvoir have said their blasting may have been responsible.
UPDATE III: Looks like those folks who were blaming the rumble on Ft. Belvoir were totally wrong. Here's what we just heard straight from them:
I just wanted to let you know we at Fort Belvoir received a call from the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center indicating an earthquake had occurred about 1:30 p.m. today. Media reports circulating that Belvoir officials had confirmed blasting here caused the reported rumbles are inaccurate. No one from this office had any information to indicate that was the case. Our scheduled subterranean blasts were set for 4:30 p.m. today. There was no unscheduled blasting at the site.Hope that helps.
Don Dees
Fort Belvoir Public Affairs
Final conclusion: definitely an earthquake!
|
oh shit, oh shit...it's the morlock/chud war.
we're screwed!
from wtop:
Ground rumbles in parts of Northern Virginia
May 6, 2008 - 2:38pm
WASHINGTON - Ground rumblings in parts of Northern Virginia left many people wondering whether they were feeling an earthquake on Tuesday.
In an advisory to federal agencies, FEMA's Operations says that the National Earthquake Information Center is reporting the D.C. area experienced rumblings equivalent to a magnitude 2 to 3 earthquake.
It is unclear whether the rumblings were an actual earthquake or due to another cause, the FEMA advisory says.
The rumblings rattled parts of Northern Virginia - including Vienna, Falls Church, Annandale and Baileys Crossroads - around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Some people tell WTOP the rumbling felt like an earthquake.
There is no word on any damage.
Blasts are scheduled at Ft. Belvoir at 4:15 p.m. The blasts are part of the construction at Ft. Belvoir for the new National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. The agency is moving its headquarters to Ft. Belvoir and as part of the region's base realignment and closure project.
Ft. Belvoir officials say people may feel more rumblings over the new few days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
WASHINGTON - Ground rumblings in parts of Northern Virginia left many people wondering whether they were feeling an earthquake on Tuesday.
In an advisory to federal agencies, FEMA's Operations says that the National Earthquake Information Center is reporting the D.C. area experienced rumblings equivalent to a magnitude 2 to 3 earthquake.
It is unclear whether the rumblings were an actual earthquake or due to another cause, the FEMA advisory says.
The rumblings rattled parts of Northern Virginia - including Vienna, Falls Church, Annandale and Baileys Crossroads - around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Some people tell WTOP the rumbling felt like an earthquake.
There is no word on any damage.
Blasts are scheduled at Ft. Belvoir at 4:15 p.m. The blasts are part of the construction at Ft. Belvoir for the new National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. The agency is moving its headquarters to Ft. Belvoir and as part of the region's base realignment and closure project.
Ft. Belvoir officials say people may feel more rumblings over the new few days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
Did you feel the rumble?
No, but I think we now know why Taco Bell Chili Cheese Burritos are "Not available at all locations." The morlocks took them all. Would not want to be trapped in their tunnels an hour after lunch.
You never have these kids of "tremors" with Bacon Club Chalupas. They go down and they stay down.
dang. you guys are so fast. was just about to post this from "arlington alerts" via my sister and boyfriend's sister, both of whom felt it.
I was wondering why I was swaying around earlier but then I remembered I've been sniffing Sharpies all morning.
A few of my co-workers felt this at Arlington Hall, way too far from Ft. Belvoir methinks.
i felt it here in dupont circle. not earth-shattering or anything, but we all wondered what it was.
http://wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1399162
nope...was in fact an earthquake
my wife teaches at annandale high school... they thought there was an explosion, it sounded like a bomb to them
My co-worker and I felt it, we are at eisenhower ave in alexandria
i just had a conversation this morning on the benefits of living here vs. california, and the lack of earthquakes was on the top of my list.
dammit!
Somewhat related, but did anyone else hear that explosion last night around 9 PM? I heard it from U Street, went up to my roof to look around, but only heard sirens downtown. I can't find any news about it.
from the USGS site:
Magnitude 1.8
Date-Time
* Tuesday, May 06, 2008 at 17:30:23 UTC
* Tuesday, May 06, 2008 at 01:30:23 PM at epicenter
Location 38.828°N, 77.234°W
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region VIRGINIA
Distances
* 2 km (1 miles) WSW (250°) from Annandale, VA
* 3 km (2 miles) NW (320°) from North Springfield, VA
* 3 km (2 miles) SE (143°) from Mantua, VA
* 6 km (4 miles) NNE (32°) from Burke, VA
* 12 km (8 miles) WSW (242°) from Arlington, VA
* 21 km (13 miles) WSW (244°) from Washington, DC
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 1.7 km (1.1 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST= 6, Nph= 13, Dmin=70.2 km, Rmss=0.3 sec, Gp=151°,
M-type=duration magnitude (Md), Version=1
Source
* Lamont-Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network (LCSN)
Event ID ld1022071
Sorry guys, that was one heck of a sneeze I just had.
Somewhat related, but did anyone else hear that explosion last night around 9 PM? I heard it from U Street, went up to my roof to look around, but only heard sirens downtown. I can't find any news about it.
Where on U Street? I heard a large boom up at 18th and U around 915 - think it was just a truck though.
ces12: I am at 17th and U, so we probably heard the same thing. Sounded pretty loud for a truck. Are you sure?
I felt nothing at the time, although I was using the little boys' room and was dealing with my own rumbling issues.
Wait, wait, hold the phone. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency?! What the hell is that nefarious sounding agency? That sounds like the type of agency that doesn't need dynamite to blow stuff up. Maybe the earthquake was caused by Office Movers accidentally dropping their anti-gravityficationator machine.
you guys are so cute with your 1.8 earthquake stories...
Reid - they do mapping and satellite imagery hence the geospatial part of the name. The data and imagery they collect is used by the intelligence community for all sorts of things that we're not allowed to know about.
NGA History
@Reid: Its where people that specialize in GIS work 500 feet below the surface of the Earth to plot maps and satellite images of said Earth to hunt down Al Qaeda and other turrsts
I'm in Springfield and I felt it - windows rattled and the house shook a bit, and I first looked around thinking there must be a very large truck outside or something like that.
Man, I'm actually kinda disappointed! I didn't feel a damn thing here in Falls Church/Merrifield.
Well, besides job-related ennui.
And doesn't it make sense that the super secret gov't agency would of course deny it was them.
As the wise philosopher Shaggy said, "It wasn't me."
gross rumbling jokes run amuck!
National Geospatial Agency works with the Defense Mapping Agency and the National Security Agency to monitor and track your every bowel movement.
While we're on the subject of the NGA, did anyone hear a muffled explosion coming from the handicapped bathroom down the hall? I looked inside but all I could see was a crater where the toilet used to be, a pair of empty Doc Martens, a blast pattern on the ceiling, and a discarded Big Bell Meal Box. Then these men in black showed up and told me all I saw was "swamp gas" and there never was any explosion and what's more, Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, shot and killed John F. Kennedy.
people in California are laughing at us right now.
http://www.heliocentric.com.au/pics/molemen.jpg
MOLEMEN
Am I the only one wondering why there are scheduled "subterranean blasts" at Ft. Belvoir? What the hell are they doing down there?
A robot soldier told me they weren't doing anything there.
It's back ya'll!
I can't believe it.
Be prepared to laugh your ass off at DC's most HI-Larious blog, The Whitman DC Condo Blog.
You MUST check this out. lol.
www.thewhitmandc.blogspot.com
they're moving the nga folk from the navy yard down to ft. belvoir, right? and not a moment too soon. those guys are the scourge of the cartography world. what, with their geonames database that i refer to for every damn mapping project....oh wait, guess that means they're not a scourge.
they're indispensable. please don't go underground, nga, and never come back. we'll miss you.
Screw the molemen. My money's on the Ft. Belvoir troops battling either the Hollow Earth creatures or the VRIL with underground nukes. Same thing happened at Mount Shasta.
Don't be surprised if you hear on the news tonight that an offshore deepsea oil rig has struck a tunnel full of flames and screaming and the oceans suddenly start draining.
Rumble at 1:30pm today? I thought that was my intestinal system after the greasy club sandwich that I ate.
It's those damn Fraggles again!
did someone say moleman? i was saying boo-urns.
Yup - felt it. My office is underground, so it was not difficult to mistake (having grown up in an active fault zone, you can tell what an earthquake is like, even the small ones).
omg. Check out this link in particular! lol.
Poor Deborah Jeane Palfrey!
http://thewhitmandc.blogspot.com/2008/05/peace-out-deborah-jean-palfrey.html
people in California are laughing at us right now.
Damn straight. I didn't feel a thing. But as a native Californian, it usually takes at least something in the 4.5-5.0 range to get my attention.
i know we're not supposed to feed the trolls, but can someone find the source of this whitman spam and put an end to it?
nothing over here in the NE quadrant.
i am beginning to think that NE stands for "non-existent"
Fanny, why are all of your posts spam trying to direct traffic to the Whitman condo blog?
For real, no ne cares about the Whitman, most of use have our own condo woes to deal with.
I hate working all the way out in Bethesda. I miss all the good stuff: the burrito guy, a short commute and now earthquakes!
Wait, 1:30pm? That's during my post-lunch nap. No one disturbs voteprime during his post-lunch nap, not even Mother Nature!
For real, no ne cares about the Whitman, most of use have our own condo woes to deal with.
Indeed, I can barely muster any enthusiasm for the petty squabbles and nonsense in my own building; how could I possibly care about the Whitman?
"Be prepared to laugh your ass off at DC's most HI-Larious blog"
I think DCist is