For those who don't know.

The Virginia one in particular apparently caused tremors as far away as New York and Georgia. Reports seem to indicate nobody's been reported dead or injured yet, but these things are nothing to scoff at (apparently VA's was as strong as the one that wrecked Haiti not too long ago). So please check in if you were affected by one of these, and put minds at ease.

Well here (near Boston) I felt nothing. I did not know we had an earthquake to be honest. Hopefully people are OK.

We felt it in upstate New York, lasted about 15-20 seconds.  My desk shook and I could hear some things rattling in the distance.  Right after it happened, quite a few people in my area walked outside and were talking about it.  This was the first earthquake I've ever felt.

I was in a Super Target here in northern Virginia and I felt absolutely nothing.  Apparently some old dude and I were the only ones....  The rest of the store stopped in their tracks, and were surprised by all the shaking for 15+ seconds...  I was just happily going about my business of filling a cup with soda.
I suppose something is wrong with me.

Nothing here, northwest jersey.  5.8 is pretty much a tickle as far as earthquakes are concerned.  The only reason this is making notable headlines is because the northeast isn't generally known for earthquakes (of any magnitude!).

Was working the pediatric unit at New York Hospital Queens when it happened.  While co-workers spoke of moderate shaking on other floors, for us, it was but a split second feeling of wavy nausea -- not unlike being on a rocking boat at sea.  Of course, the non-presence of both ship and water made for a very weird and unexpected experience.  It was like some invisible force rippling through the body.

The kids loved it, though.

I work in Newark, Delaware. Was eating lunch and the ground started shaking. I started to get underneath the table because I didn't trust the ceiling tiles, but it only lasted about 30 seconds. Crazy!

I can understand being worried in the moment due to not knowing whether the tremors were the start of a more serious seismic event, but it's pretty annoying to see people overreact retrospectively.  For example, the suggestion on the local news here in New York that "everyone has a story" is stupid considering that all of those stories are along the lines of, "I felt [the surface that I was standing on / the object that I was sitting on] shake and I didn't know what was happening and then I realized that it was an earthquake."  Fin.  Some story!

The suggestion, too, that this earthquake is comparable to the one in Haiti is outrageous.

Edit: I understand that there are reports of injuries and property damage near the epicenter.  I don't mean to trivialize these effects of the earthquake; I am merely criticizing those of us on the edge of where the quake could be felt.

The Haiti thing was a strict comparison of the magnitude - 5.9. Obviously the situation turned out much worse in Haiti because of the area's circumstances, but from a pure strength analysis they were similar.

As far as overreacting is concerned, it's my nature to do so. I didn't feel anything in pokey New Bedford either, but I know there are people that frequent here much closer to those that did feel something and my first reaction was apprehension. If my outreach post annoyed you, I do apologize, for both this and the next time I'm likely to do it. 2011 has been pretty unkind to me and those I care about so far and I don't want to just guess that things are OK.

P.S. There's a hurricane out there, too, so everyone be careful of that, too.

I ate a diablo burrito at Senor Taco for lunch

Based on a strict comparison of magnitude, the quake in Haiti was 44.668 times stronger than today's quake in Virginia.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics … bigger.php

I still don't understand how the two can be mentioned in the same breath.

Edit: Actually, it looks as though the magnitude of today's quake has been revised downward to 5.8, so the quake in Haiti was 63.095 times stronger.

My office shook a bunch, and my CDs were shuffled around when I got home (thankfully the shelves didn't fall over), but otherwise everything seems ok.  No gas leaks, broken water pipes, or cracked chimneys so far (knock on wood)!  It's kind of neat to be able to say that I experienced an earthquake, but I'm also fine with that being the only one I ever experience.  Last year's tornado came way too close for comfort, and I can do without any more near misses.

I wonder if all the "overreacting" has to do with a great many people experiencing an earthquake for the first time in their lives, in a region where they're not expected.

In Maryland, there was one 20-30 second tremor (others told me of a second one, but it must've been too weak for me to detect); it wasn't strong enough for me to be worried, but the entire world feeling unstable beneath my feet was a new experience. The four-year-old I had at the time started to cry, but I told her "hey, it's alright! It's kinda like a bouncy castle!" Then she wanted another tremor to come.