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OT: Just had an earthquake

Nothing hysterical in my posts. Been simply providing data on the quake and history of quakes. An off-the-cuff comment on what I might have thought for an instant is irrelevant - look at the thread - people initially thought it was all kinds of things, including weather, airplanes, boilers exploding, whatever. Looking at the data, a 4.8 earthquake (2nd biggest in NJ history) is not trivial and everyone who felt the significant shaking was at least a little bit worried for a bit, especially since this was a very shallow quake which is felt more than deeper quakes, which are more common on the west coast, as per below. As the Princeton seismologist, below, said, “This shaking was violent, strong and long.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...attles-buildings-nerves-east-coast-rcna146578

This morning's earthquake occurred on a shallow fault system in New Jersey and shook for about 35 seconds, a Princeton seismologist said.
“The shallower or the closer it is, the more we feel it as humans,” said Frederik J. Simons, a professor of geosciences at Princeton University.
The quake originated at a depth of less than 3 miles, according to USGS.
Earthquakes on the East Coast can be felt at a great distance and can cause more pronounced shaking in comparison to those on the West Coast because rocks in the region are often older, harder and more dense.
“These are competent rocks that transmit energy well,” Simons said.
The earthquake ruptured on the Ramapo fault system, he said. The system is relatively old and considered mostly tectonically inactive. It's at a boundary where the continental and oceanic tectonic plates meet and are stuck together. The plates grind against one another slowly and accumulate stress until something slips.
“There are cracks in it and now and then a little motion accumulates, the stress keeps growing, at very slow rates,” Simons said. “It’s like an old house creaking and groaning.”
He said this was one of the largest earthquakes in New Jersey in recent history. The last notable one was a magnitude-3.1 temblor in Freehold Township in September 2020.
“I’m on campus at Princeton University for the biggest one I’ve felt in a lifetime,” he said. “This shaking was violent, strong and long.”
Just a note… NUCLEAR BOMB? …yeah that’s histrionics on your part . Even those who back your nonsense understand the silliness of that. There are shifts going on daily just off the East Coast…. Someday there may be one which is larger but 4.7 though not insignificant is nowhere near a nuke explosion. There was a great deal of hyperbole in your posting.
 
My first thought was an explosion too.

The sound was much more frightening then the shaking, imo
The sound reminded me of growing up on Long Island, and the incoming Concorde would line up for final approach at JFK every morning around 9am. Rolling thunderous rumbling that just keeps going.
 
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That’s the problem earthquakes are “ violent “ even small ones. Nuclear bomb explosions? A bit more than violent.
 
The sound reminded me of growing up on Long Island, and the incoming Concorde would line up for final approach at JFK every morning around 9am. Rolling thunderous rumbling that just keeps going.

I first thought it was an explosion, but then thought it was a sonic boom from something
 
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It is amazing that the couple of guys trying to talk down everyone on how this was not a big deal- are missing the F-ing point, like usual.
We do not live in SF, Japan or anywhere else that have the 6-9 level EQ's- maybe you guys have but this was in fact- one of the largest, if not the largest, anyone on this board has ever felt and very surprising for NJ...

And while numbers first thougts may have included one that was a little far fetched- he was just sharing what went through his head at the moment- not trying to state anything rational or factual.
My first thoughts were possible water heater or gas line in my house about to blow- but that makes very little sense either. But, it was the first thing that popped in.

No different then a few years back- i had a little microburst of wind in my backyard- it picked up lawn furniture and tossed them across the pool and flipped over a 10 seat cast aluminum table. We were outside poolside at the time and it was scary as F...
And yet, I know it did not compare to what anyone living in the panhandle is used too.

Sometimes- some of you just want to drop your balls onto the sidewalk when posting on the internet
I'd like this response a couple times more if I could.
I didnt notice anything so how bad it could have been
You also said you were outside. Were you stationary at the time? Walking? Riding on equipment? I was inside a large building with about 20 people nearby. Every single one of them knew something just happened.
 
I'd like this response a couple times more if I could.

You also said you were outside. Were you stationary at the time? Walking? Riding on equipment? I was inside a large building with about 20 people nearby. Every single one of them knew something just happened.

I had backpack blower on...shh they are banned in Princeton
 
The shaking was modest at best. Nothing fell over, even small things like picture frames or keepsakes were unmoved.

Amusing to read such hysteria.
LOL! Hysteria?? That's a bit dramatic. As an aside, there were patients here who arrived after who were quite concerned. But hysteria??? Again, LOL!!,
 
People need to calm down over this little tremor:

v1dGWE.gif
 
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for you all you nannies please understand that the stress on your typical home in 4.7 quake is far less than 30-40mph winds

some of you are embarrassing yourselves

'thought it was a nuke' lololol
Stay in your lane and stick to finances. We've had 50-60 mph wind gusts here many times (and higher during Sandy) and with regard to house shaking, those winds led to minor shaking compared to the shaking we just had. That's because the force is distributed completely differently from winds (across the whole house's surface area) vs. an earthquake, which is completely focused on the foundation, creating rotational moment arms above the foundation proportional to the earth's acceleration and the mass of the building, leading to much more shaking, especially on upper floors which are further from the foundation.
 
I'm right at the epicenter and we had minor damage to the walls, shelfs came down and picture frames off the wall.
That sucks, but thanks for chiming in - was really wondering if there was some minor damage at the epicenter. I'm still amazed we didn't have a ton of stuff falling off of shelves other than one item that we just found in one of the other bedrooms.
 
Seriously - what is the medical condition for the handful or so posters who are soo concerned about someone else's nuclear bomb comment?

Get off the guy's jock for the love of god, it's pathetic.
Especially given how clueless he is about the science, but that's not unusual for him or a few others.
 
I remember the 1970 refinery explosion in Elizabeth/Linden. That was a major event for many people in the area.
 
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That sucks, but thanks for chiming in - was really wondering if there was some minor damage at the epicenter. I'm still amazed we didn't have a ton of stuff falling off of shelves other than one item that we just found in one of the other bedrooms.
We've been getting aftershocks (all very minor) ever since then too.
 
That one lasted longer and was more intense than this one: we scrammed outside.
Yes. That one broke things like the Washington Monument. This was very minor. Had wine bottles clinking each other but didn't see anything moving.
 
I remember the 1970 refinery explosion in Elizabeth/Linden. That was a major event for many people in the area.
The biggest shaking we ever experienced, until now (which was way more), was the Texas Eastern pipeline explosion in 1994 next to the Durham Woods apartment complex in Edison. Seemed way closer than it was and the fireball was in line with a Mobil chemical facility at the time, about 3/4 mile away. Since my wife was pregnant and we had no idea if there might be a toxic gas cloud, we were out of the house and driving away within 1 minute until we heard something on the radio saying it was a pipeline explosion/fire about 1.25 miles away. Had a friend who lived there and got out with whatever he could carry as his building later burned down - was so lucky it didn't happen during the day as there was a playground at ground zero (only 1 person died, miraculously and that was a heart attack).
 
The biggest shaking we ever experienced, until now (which was way more), was the Texas Eastern pipeline explosion in 1994 next to the Durham Woods apartment complex in Edison. Seemed way closer than it was and the fireball was in line with a Mobil chemical facility at the time, about 3/4 mile away. Since my wife was pregnant and we had no idea if there might be a toxic gas cloud, we were out of the house and driving away within 1 minute until we heard something on the radio saying it was a pipeline explosion/fire about 1.25 miles away. Had a friend who lived there and got out with whatever he could carry as his building later burned down - was so lucky it didn't happen during the day as there was a playground at ground zero (only 1 person died, miraculously and that was a heart attack).
I recall that one too. A coworker at the time lived in a condo in Edison. She got thrown across the room.

I lived probably less than a mile from the 1970 refinery explosion, that one stands out for people in the area. The entire sky was lit up, this was at midnight.
 
just to set the record straight for a few posters, the Ramapo fault type is different than those out west, so you can’t completely compare the two. West coast quakes have more lateral movement which causes more damage (especially foundation and structural) but may not be felt as intensely. A northeast quake at a depth of less than 5km (which is a shallow quake anywhere on the planet) will feel more “intense” as the fault type produces more of a vibrating/shaking/thudding rather than a swaying effect.

So it’s appropriate for some to say this felt more intense than similar quakes on the west coast but caused less damage overall.
 
Probably the case, since I just posted comments from a prof at Princeton who described the shaking as violent.

That nuclear bomb comment set a new standard for hysteria on this board. LOL!
I can understand people are shocked since we in New Jersey are isolated from things such as an earthquake. The poster is upset because he can’t see the comparison makes absolutely no sense. I ain’t a scientist working on vaccines and cures granted but …. the nuke thing was funny . I have been in tornadoes out west… if you want a nuclear bomb comparison then that’s relatively close. He should spend a month with those seismologists out in Wyoming .
 
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