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What time did the actual event happen? Can't find in all the articles what time it occured. Felt something strange here in western Pa and thought the dog was brushing against me but she was across the room. Can't remember what time it was and never considered a quake.
I waited outside for about 30 minutes (I work in DC). I was worried that the 14th st bridge may have been compromised. My daughter was in summer camp and I could not call into their phone # with either my wireless or a hard line. After a while, someone put on wtop and they were saying that people were travelling ok in the bridges. That did it. It took me about 30-45 minutes for a trip that usually takes 15 mins. Not bad.
Like someone else said, if I were single I would have sat outside and comiserated with fellow "survivors". However, when you have a little one, you just try to get to him/her anyway you can.
Another weird thing: as soon as I crossed into VA I started getting phone calls from friends/family outside dc. Maybe the cell towers were overwhelmed in DC or they don't have enough of them. Texts worked fine in dc and va.
I didn't know we had Earthquakes here! I felt like I was in California again. Wow, I hope that we don't get anymore. So glad I am working from home today! I just had a book fall off of my desk...nothing major. Weird stuff like this only happens when my husband is out of town. I guess I will be on edge for a while.
Ditto - love these fun events when husband is out of town....in San Francisco nonetheless.
The ONE day of the summer I choose to go into D.C. to sightsee had to be this one! I was in the Capitol Visitors Center and never figured out what it was until I called my dh to let him know what had happened to me. I felt the rumbles under my feet, then a boom, amd saw the workers running to get out from under the skylight glass that is overhead. Then they started evacuating with the shouts to get out fast and keep going, get out, up the grass, across the street, don't stop, just go. By then I was thinking bomb in the Capitol and terrorism. I'm sure the security have only one way to evacuate that area and that is quickly, which they did. My real fun was getting home on metro. Ended up walking from Union Station, a total chaos, to Federal Triangle so I could get the orange train and not deal with transferring. What a day, it sure beat the hubby who was working from home and experienced it there.
Question to any 'seasoned' California earthquake veterans....why are some recommending you NOT attempt to vacate the building?
I work on the top floor of my building in Arlington and though I never experienced one before, I somehow immediately surmised that it was a quake. I sprang from my desk and got my butt down the stairs and out the front door in a hurry. In fact, I got out so fast that the shaking was still going on when I got outside. When I got outside I went to an open parking lot across the street that doesn't have any large buildings immediately surrounding it. Is there any good reason I shouldn't have done this? I didn't feel 'panicked', I just have a tendency to react quickly and decisively to things like that.
If you are indoors "Stay inside until shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Most injuries during earthquakes occur when people are hit by falling objects when entering into or exiting from buildings."
Instead, FEMA says that if you are already indoors then you should:
--Take cover under a sturdy desk, table, or bench or against an inside wall, and hold on. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.
--Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
--Stay in bed - if you are there when the earthquake strikes - hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
--Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.
Question to any 'seasoned' California earthquake veterans....why are some recommending you NOT attempt to vacate the building?
I work on the top floor of my building in Arlington and though I never experienced one before, I somehow immediately surmised that it was a quake. I sprang from my desk and got my butt down the stairs and out the front door in a hurry. In fact, I got out so fast that the shaking was still going on when I got outside. When I got outside I went to an open parking lot across the street that doesn't have any large buildings immediately surrounding it. Is there any good reason I shouldn't have done this? I didn't feel 'panicked', I just have a tendency to react quickly and decisively to things like that.
If the earthquake had been stronger or lasted longer, the building could have potentially collapsed while you were evacuating. While the building is still shaking you should go for cover, NOT move throughout the building to escape. If ceiling tiles began to fall, floors began to collapse, items began to fall off walls or shelves, lights began to fall from the ceiling, etc... you could have been struck by them and injured or killed if you were running through the building. Also, lets say glass was shattering on a skyscraper. You run outside while the building is still shaking and a piece of glass from 20 stories up hits you as you exit. Or a billboard falls over and hits you. Or a bookcase falls on you as you move through the office or the sculpture hanging in the building lobby falls on you, etc... Not pretty. The list of potential things that could hit you is endless, which is why you go for cover because in a bigger earthquake, 10 seconds in the building could already be collapsing.
The safest place during shaking that starts while you are inside is under a desk, under a table, under the cross beam over doorways, etc... In a very large earthquake, these items will break the fall of items that might fall and hit you and protect your neck/head.
Once the shaking is over, you should cautiously proceed to evacuate the building.
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I just had a book fall off of my desk...nothing major. Weird stuff like this only happens when my husband is out of town. I guess I will be on edge for a while.
