Out of the Blue

[Aug 24, 2011, 10:40 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The BlueTower was within the range of yesterday's Virginia earthquake, but it did not last nearly long enough for me to mix a martini to take advantage of the brief shaking we experienced. When I worked for a company that had had offices in the south we used to joke about how they would close up shop if a snow flurry was forecast so they could avoid being caught on the roads. I imagine there are people in more quake-prone zones (like the island of Vanuatu, which has had 16 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater in the past week) who would find similar amusement at the reaction to the quake here in the New York area, as while it was magnitude 5.8 at the source causing damage like this (thanks Slashdot) and this (thanks reddit), it was obviously that much milder up here. Not that I'm complaining: This is the second mild quake I've experience in my life, and I certainly hope I never get to experienced a more serious one.

Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
Play:	Angry Birds Rio. Thanks Daniel. ESCAPE. Zombies vs. Penguins.
Links:	A Chinese version of Batman’s origins. Rear Gear. Thanks Hoop via funny write-up on Stuff.co.nz.
Stories:	Steampunk Themed Apartment in Manhattan, Only $1.75 Million. Thanks Neatorama. Burbank businessman arrested over feeding of birds near airport. Thanks Neatorama.
Media:	Movie Titles In Movies (Part Deux). TETRIS - Le Film. Forrest Gump Auditions.
The Funnies:	How To Draw A Spider Cartoon - Savage Chickens.

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13.

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 25, 2011, 09:51

nin

one of them was literally that someone even bigger then me was jogging by my cube. My monitor shook, it had the uniform pattern of someone jogging or running with massive footsteps.

Yep, that's it, exactly.

And so very rarely get them here (that can be felt, anyway) that when it happened, it was more a shock that we actually had one.




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

12.

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 25, 2011, 09:44

kanniballl

nin wrote on Aug 24, 2011, 13:31:
it felt like short continuous vibrations. similar to hearing kids running around the upper floor of an apartment building

That's exactly like the one here in Oklahoma was awhile back. As a matter of fact, I first thought it was a (huge) guy who sits down the way just coming back to his desk (and in his defense, it's more in the way the building was made than his weight).

We felt it up here in NJ. And a couple of thoughts came through my mind, one of them was literally that someone even bigger then me was jogging by my cube. My monitor shook, it had the uniform pattern of someone jogging or running with massive footsteps.

But when I saw the hanging-lights were wobbling and nobody was running, I figured maybe they're moving something along the ceiling or the bulldozer outside just did something stupid/bad.

Eh, I got out of work for like 45-60 minutes because of it so I can't complain.




"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

11.

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 22:20

zirik

eunichron wrote on Aug 24, 2011, 14:48: Earthquake: My friend in W. VA described it as, "Standing on a plywood stage with two elephants fucking." your friend has a weird hobby watching elephants fuck on stage.

10.

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 19:27

LittleMe

Hoop wrote on Aug 24, 2011, 17:08:
There is one other number as interesting as the magnitude of a quake & thats the depth, you guys had a very shallow quake.

I think it's the shallow quakes that feel stronger. This quake was less than 4km down which is very shallow. Here in the DC Metro area it was like our building was attached to a big washing machine that was on an imbalanced spin cycle. We had one last year (3.6) that was louder because it's epicenter was only a few miles away but this one shook more. I'm hearing this year's is a 5.9 or 5.8, not sure which it really was. Big difference between the two.

And if you were near the epicenter, you'd not laugh at a 5.9.




Political freedom can only be preceded by economic freedom which is preceded by monetary freedom.

Zombies vs. Penguins.

Aug 24, 2011, 18:33

jdreyer

Heh, that was pretty fun.

If you get to the end, and 100 starts it opens up a whole new game where you play zombies trying to kill penguins with a grenade launcher.




Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 17:08

Hoop

There is one other number as interesting as the magnitude of a quake & thats the depth, you guys had a very shallow quake. A 5.0 at 40km deep can be pretty insignificant, the ground condition also makes a huge difference. Our worst quake was only 6.8 but it was shallow close & got a serious vibration on as it travelled under a band of volcanic hills that surround the city. Our city is built on old ancient river beds & swamp land, so factor in all that & it was one devastating 6.8.

Those in the way of that hurricane, stay safe.




Um .. Behind you...

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 15:03

banddirector

And now you got a hurricane headed your way - - yowza ....




There's no place like 127.0.0.1

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 14:48

eunichron

Off-topic: I finally broke down and bought a 2TB internal drive for my primary machine so that I can consolidate the 3 different HDDs already in it. I know there are enclosures you can buy to turn individual drives into external drives, but are there any good enclosures that will let you have multiple drives of different performance (they are all SATA, but different speeds and capacities)? Earthquake: My friend in W. VA described it as, "Standing on a plywood stage with two elephants fucking."

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 13:31

nin

it felt like short continuous vibrations. similar to hearing kids running around the upper floor of an apartment building

That's exactly like the one here in Oklahoma was awhile back. As a matter of fact, I first thought it was a (huge) guy who sits down the way just coming back to his desk (and in his defense, it's more in the way the building was made than his weight).




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 13:25

zirik

nin wrote on Aug 24, 2011, 11:02: It's funny, it's NY that generally gets the bad attitude rap, but a few of the west coast folk seem like jackasses, based on their response to an east coast quake. i was in the DC area when the quake hit. much closer to the epicenter of the quake than new york. it felt like short continuous vibrations. similar to hearing kids running around the upper floor of an apartment building. the same magnitude quake in california would have felt like long rolling motions of waves in the ocean. and i have been through a lot of quakes in california. it boils down to the type of soil. in california it is dry sand soil that transmits the vibrations more readily like quick sand than the more dense and moisture saturated black soil found in new york. i dont find it amusing when people say new yorkers over reacted since the building codes in that city is not up to earthquake standards like it is in california.

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 13:05

Cutter

Linksil wrote on Aug 24, 2011, 12:24:
Not to sound like a jackass, but it's the earth moving. It happens all the time.

That's exactly what the ladies experience with me. *wink wink*

I was in SF for a big one once and man it was the real Hippy Hippy Shake and scary to boot.

The martini wasn't bad, Blue, but I thought you might go with something about Teenage Head's classic 'Let's Shake!'.

I wonder if they were making reference to Shakin' Stevens in Britain?




"Are you crazy? Is that your problem?" - Jack Burton

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 12:24

Linksil

Not to sound like a jackass, but it's the earth moving. It happens all the time. I realize that the east coast dosn't get it much but the overration is funny. I mean look at DC. I've lived through a few larger quakes(God I feel old at 30) and beyond falling freeways, we were more amused during the event then anything. Even out in CA you have people freaking out over small ones(Less then 6 normally dosn't even move the paintings).

I think the only bad attitude rap I've heard lately from NY is not the main city but the sub divisions.




Munching Threw: Fire Emblem 3DS, Chaos on Deponia, NS2, FF13-2

Re: Out of the Blue

Aug 24, 2011, 11:02

nin

It's funny, it's NY that generally gets the bad attitude rap, but a few of the west coast folk seem like jackasses, based on their response to an east coast quake.




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

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