5.8 quake and aftershocks

At 1:51 in the afternoon when the earth quake hit I was sitting in my office on the 10th floor over looking the Potomac and DC (best view in the city). The quake had to different and distinct waves. The first was small in duration. I felt the building move for a few seconds. It was subtle but I definitely felt it. There was no sound and no reaction from within my office. Having never been in a quake before and not knowing what was going on I stood up and took a step towards my 10th floor window to observe what I could outside. Not the best advice during an earth quake. The second wave came just a second or two after the first and it was big and sustained. You’d think it was over and then it kept going. Up on the 10th floor there wasn’t a lot of impact. Nothing was falling over, no ceiling tiles falling or anything, just the swaying of the building. I looked around outside for some other evidence and I could see one person looking around and not exactly standing still. That verified to me it wasn’t just the building and I had just experienced my first quake. I always wanted to be in an earthquake.

Being in the mid-Atlantic no one knew what to do once the quake was over. People reacted in all sorts of ways. A few people, including Robie, dropped everything and immediately left the building. Of course they all stood outside under and between very tall office buildings. Other people (including Teri) sheltered under their desk. I figured everything was good and started checking out twitter and the USGS earthquake site. All the locals I followed on Twitter immediately confirmed that they felt the same thing. It took a bit before it showed up on USGS site (quake stats). I hung out in my office with many other coworkers wondering what to do. Apparently all over DC and Arlington there were thousands and thousands of people who emptied out on the streets. I was trying to text Robie to see what he was doing and what we should do. The feds evacuated all buildings and shut down for the day. Most other companies followed. Eventually we all went home. Of course just like when the feds let out early for snow it turned the commute to gridlock. The metro was running at 15 mph because they weren’t sure of all the tracks. Buses were completely full. As I rode home on my bike I noticed huge lines at the bus stops, empty taxi stands, and people everywhere trying unsuccessfully to hail a taxi.

I heard that people were running out of the Washington Monument for a good half hour or so. A 4 foot crack appeared at the top and it is closed indefinitely. The National Cathedral had some damage. An apartment building in Maryland with 110 units was totaled. A chandelier in Teri’s apartment lobby hit the floor. The center speaker screen on my entertainment center fell out but that is about all I noticed at my place. I popular picture online, which may have been taken by Michelle Winston’s friend, showed items all over the floor at a Fredericksburg CVS. The barbershop stayed open and I was able to get my haircut without waiting in line. The bars did the best happy hour business they have ever done.

There were over a dozen aftershocks. I felt a 4.2 aftershock but that was the only one. It was a topic of conversation for a week.

More info on the quake is here.