Was working on my computer just before 2 PM when there was what
seemed to
be a strong north-south movement. My 3rd floor abode can bounce to
passing
traffic but this was far more intense. After a few seconds it stopped
(longitudinal P waves me thinks), to be followed by an even
stronger more vertical
motion (shaking S waves I presume). Is a near surface 5.8 out of
northern
Virginia that was felt as far as NYC. Because the ground is harder
on the east
coast quake motions are transmitted much further than on the softer
ground
west coast. It is possible that these are Pleistocene quakes
resulting from
crustal adjustments in response to the current lack of glacial mass
to the
north. If a really big one hits we are toast due to lack of
earthquake codes.
Is the first quake I have ever actually felt. Reminds me of earlier
this
summer when at Jim Farlow's Pipe Creek screening we watched and
felt 16 tonnes
of Amfo (same fertilizer-kerosene mix used by McVey) to blast off
50,000
tonnes (weight of an Iowa class battleship) of a limestone quarry
wall from
almost half a mile away, producing immediate stong vertical shaking
followed
two or three seconds later by modest rumbling roar.
Of course this is trivia to west coasters.
GSPaul </HTML>