5.8 Earthquake Aug 23, 2011

[Kmlwx]

1 minute ago, mappy said:

happy earthquake day friends!

irene anniversary coming up too!

Imagine a "Hall of Fame" style year...would be something else (nobody come at me with the ethical argument of tracking exciting weather/science events). 

Just think a year with the following all packed into a single 12 month period (or comparable events)

1) All of the winter events of the 09-10 winter.

2) April 28, 2002 severe/tornado event (as the spring event)

3) June 29, 2012 severe/derecho event (as summer time severe event)

4) Random smattering of significant severe days in the peak of summer and into mid-August. 

5) Some significant tropical action in the form of an Isabel (but perhaps even more significant...like @Eskimo Joe's left turning tropical cyclone up the west side of the Potomac.

6) September 24, 2001 severe/tornado event as another fall event. 

7) Sandy in late October

8) Veterans Day 1987 Snowstorm as an early wintry surprise. 

9) A typical December 5th snow event (even if small) to kickoff the next winter

10) More winter storms like 09-10 in December. 

Also throw in big synoptic wind events in early spring/and later into fall/winter. And just because I'm feeling generous - throw in major heat to make EJ happy. 

[H2O]

Oh the memories. Wondering if my building was gonna fall down. Wondering if everyone was ok. Wondering wtf that really was. 
 

Phones not working and the lawn chair. Need another. 

[Bodhi Cove]

4 hours ago, H2O said:

Oh the memories. Wondering if my building was gonna fall down. Wondering if everyone was ok. Wondering wtf that really was. 
 

Phones not working and the lawn chair. Need another. 

I missed the picture of the two lawn chairs that are falling over

[StormchaserChuck!]

I feel the vibe. 

Now for the mass extinction event

[Hoosier]

Earthquake threads are moderator dream threads.  Nobody can troll them before or during the quake.

[Stormfly]

Vividly remember it.

Always wanted to experience a "real" quake.

Did.

Don't want to do it again.

[87storms]

Was in Columbia at the time (at work talking to my manager…think it was even a performance review lol). So unlikely to get an earthquake here that my first guess was that the building was crumbling. It was pretty legit for about a minute there. I also remember cell service being down bc everyone was trying to figure out what just happened.

[George BM]

1:51pm on an August 23rd.

Thread bump time.

Fourteen years ago at this moment was a fun time! 

[WxWatcher007]

I just remember my cup of water shaking like it was Jurassic Park. 

[dailylurker]

14 minutes ago, WxWatcher007 said:

I just remember my cup of water shaking like it was Jurassic Park. 

Did you get the weird blurry vision? I was sitting at a red light. I thought my vehicle was breaking down. Than my eyes got blurry when I noticed everything dancing like a mushroom trip.  I jumped out of the vehicle so I could feel the earth under my feet. I encouraged others and a couple other dudes jumped out too lol

[WxWatcher007]

17 minutes ago, dailylurker said:

Did you get the weird blurry vision? I was sitting at a red light. I thought my vehicle was breaking down. Than my eyes got blurry when I noticed everything dancing like a mushroom trip.  I jumped out of the vehicle so I could feel the earth under my feet. I encouraged others and a couple other dudes jumped out too lol

I did not have that happen to me. That must’ve been quite an experience. 

[nw baltimore wx]

I was sitting in my classroom with a clear view down a 100’ hallway, and I swear you could see the rippling floor approaching from the front of the building towards me. Same with the noise from the roof. It approached and then passed overhead.

I can’t believe that its been 14 years.

[CAPE]

11 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

I was sitting in my classroom with a clear view down a 100’ hallway, and I swear you could see the rippling floor approaching from the front of the building towards me. Same with the noise from the roof. It approached and then passed overhead.

I can’t believe that its been 14 years.

I was teaching a class and the tables/desks started shifting back and forth. Everyone immediately knew what was going on. Then Irene hit, which was pretty bad here. A big Oak came down and just barely scraped the back of the house. Was lucky. Got plenty of firewood from that. That was a pretty interesting week lol. 

[JenkinsJinkies]

I went to look up about it after it stopped and the internet was out for hours. Electricity was on but the internet was down.

[H2O]

A fave memory was the day after and being sent to see if a dam we had on the Occoquan was still stable. That thing didn’t budge one inch. 
 

[GramaxRefugee]

I ran a search of the thread to make sure I didn’t already say all this, but I noticed the whole earthquake day showed the difference between Baltimore and Washington, (and probably Richmond). I was working in Catonsville back then and commuted past BWI to get home, so listened to the Baltimore traffic report on maybe 98Rock radio, and recall Dave Sandler saying that there wasn’t much traffic today, because after the quake many workers went home, and everything was sort of winding down at 5:30 or so. Meanwhile, I wanted to listen to Redskins radio on 980am so changed stations, and Steve Czaban (a jokester) was wailing about how we’ve had a terrible earthquake and the Beltway is stopped, and the Metro is not running, and phones are not calling, and all of D.C. is a mess. I really, really, thought he was making his sarcastic jokes. Then as time went on, looking at the traffic map, and talking to people who were there,  I realized he was not joking. 

As an old guy who has worked in both Washington and Baltimore I can tell you there are certain differences to both urban areas, but the earthquake day was the biggest. In some minor defense of D.C., I think the quake was worse there, but it was quite significant in Baltimore too.

 

[Jebman]

I remember that one all too well. I was helping Debbie a neighbor on Aug 23 2011. At first i thought it was a concrete truck rumbling by but then I realized we were getting an EARTHQUAKE! Everyone ran out of their houses. I also remember Aug 23 real good because 7 years later it was the very day I left Dale City for good. I can't believe I have been down here in HOT Texas for 7 years already!

[Eskimo Joe]

On 8/25/2025 at 10:26 AM, H2O said:

A fave memory was the day after and being sent to see if a dam we had on the Occoquan was still stable. That thing didn’t budge one inch. 

I inspect our dams over here in Montgomery County. Generally, this region take good care of the water infrastructure.

[WEATHER53]

I was driving on 495 so speed muted things but it was like a sway then bounce bounce . I thought it was an Andrews plane for noise , It sway and bounce bounce .