Oh hai, earthquake

Just a little 5.2 (or so) Richter. My entire building swayed for several seconds, and I had one item fall off a shelf. Other than abruptly-spiked stress levels which don't want to go down again, that's it.

...it's not as if I haven't dealt with this before. I used to live on a volcano. Having the local landscape play Vibro-Massage with the world was quasi-normal. But I don't expect to go through it here.

It may say something that I still checked to see if a vehicle had rammed into the building.

Again.

(The Ponicon Ko-Fi drive continues. Please send me to Tokyo. For my own fault line safety.)

Comments

[KnightMysterio]

So long as you're all right. Yikes, Estee...

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Felt the earthquake here in Philadelphia as well, was just some minor shaking and rumbling, but it scared the crap outta me....

[FanOfMostEverything]

It's moments like these where I understand the origins of belief systems. When the ground beneath you decides it has a rumble feature, people want an explanation. And, ideally, a way to keep it from happening again, but that's another matter.

[HorseWordFan]

5775391
Well, for the rumble feature, you need to get into the options and disable that under "Environmental Effects." Keep in mind that it will only be disabled for you, however, and not anyone else in your session.

Of course, the real trick is actually getting into the options to begin with. The Real Life admins have that shit locked down so tight, you can't even get even get the prompt to appear!

[IceHawk]

Chris Christy tripped and fell in NJ. False alarm.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

Regrettably, I can't post links. For those too young to have seen Animaniacs back in the 1990s, Google the video "A Quake! A Quake!"

[Uz Naimat]

Glad you’re safe, Estee. Earthquakes don’t occur where I’m from, but cyclones do. And they’re just as terrifying.

5775391
As someone who is religious, I can safely say that is the whole point. It gives people something to pray to and believe in in this dangerous, ever-changing world.

[zakueins]

As a California native, 5.2 is rookie numbers. Unless it's right under you.
Still, I can understand how surprising it is.

[Impossible Numbers]

Quite a geological spook, eh? The good news (as far as I can discern from the Google news feed such as the Los Angeles Times, the New York Magazine, and NBC news) is that there have been no casualties reported so far and minimal property damage.

Somewhat belated as it was, emergency responses seem to be operating as normal. According to their early reports, though, even older New York structures - i.e. the most vulnerable ones - don't seem to have been affected so far. Given the worst of it seems to be over (just a few aftershocks to pass now), seems to me it's more a flurry of surprise than a security risk.

I do like this Forbes article about the history of earthquakes on the East Coast, though. Puts this one-off into proper perspective:

United States Geological Survey data, for instance, shows 925 earthquakes that have occurred in the New York and New England region since 1900, though the vast majority were below a 2.0 magnitude (the USGS says damage typically doesn’t occur until the magnitude rises at least above a 4.0).

Still, stronger earthquakes do occasionally happen in the east—as of 2021, eastern North America had more than 400 earthquakes of a 3.5 magnitude or higher in the previous 50 years, according to the USGS.

Knowledge is the first step towards control; control the first step towards mastery. So long as we can keep people safe, I'm almost glad this happened: quite apart from the opportunity to upgrade earthquake protection measures (perhaps reinforcing those older buildings, for instance?), hey, not passing up the opportunity to learn a little earth science!

For instance, I didn't even know what the Ramapo Fault was - neither did I have any inclination to look it up - until today:

East of the Highlands is the Piedmont, specifically the Newark Basin. The Ramapo Fault forms the boundary between the Newark Basin and the Highlands, running from Haverstraw, New York to near Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. The Newark Basin, an aborted rift valley created during the breakup of Pangaea, consists of sedimentary and volcanic rocks from the Triassic and early Jurassic. Smaller extensions of the Ramapo Fault, including the Hopewell, Flemington-Furlong, and Chalfont faults, are present within the basin.^[13][14]

gotbooks.miracosta.edu/gonp/nyc/images/fig87.jpg

geomodelsvt.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/newark-outcrop-repeat.jpg?w=1024

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/RamapoFaultSystem.png

ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0169555X22003427-gr1.jpg

netl.doe.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/fe0023334-image.jpg

i.pinimg.com/originals/af/6e/50/af6e50fbc9b1e7a5b95937d6eab8578e.jpg

The more you know...

[Impossible Numbers]

5775420

Sorry. Been tweaking and editing this for a while, but I hope it gets the perspective across better, especially the maps in the second half. So long as you can keep track of where Long Island, the Lower Bay, and New Jersey's "Coastal Plain Province" are, you should be able to pinpoint the rough location of the Ramapo Fault (itself the immediate northwest boundary of Newark Basin - which in turn is at the northeast tip of Piedmont).

[PresentPerfect]

is no one going to talk about Estee having lived on a volcano? c_c

[HorseWordFan]

5775440
Not really, no. It's Estee, whose life is such a cavalcade "wtfwhy" that having lived on a volcano at some point is just part and parcel of the whole greater shitshow .

[Estee]

5775440
5775441

Serving as a reminder that some people didn't notice the Galacon drive (which has been succeeded by the Ponicon drive), side trip, blogs...

I lived in Nicolosi as a kid, which is along the lower slopes of Etna. Fireworks irregular, but spectacular. And sometimes you got a rumble.

[Estee]

5775420

Thankee for the images. I've been to Ramapo and was vaguely aware of the fault, but I initially thought the blame originated in Manhattan. (It has five small ones.) It was a reminder that things are seldom as stable as they seem. And apparently it also heralds the end of the world on Monday, or so a few people are already claiming.

...well, if the world has to end, Monday's as good a time as any.

I got an aftershock tremor a few minutes before starting on this reply. The building shook for about four seconds, and that was it. I'm still considering sleeping in another room tonight, because my bed is too close to the blinds and I'd rather they didn't fall on me. What I didn't get was a phone alert. Apparently some areas got a general Watch For Trouble text after the first tremor went off.

Gonna be a long, long night.

I'd go for a small hours walk, but I'd have to be careful about the sidewalk buckling under my feet.

[Delerious]

5775440
Estee is to FimFiction what BRIAN BLESSED is to acting.

[HorseWordFan]

5775446
I'm sorry, but Brian Blessed has no equal in any field. Not unless Estee can command the hawkman to dive in a manly, yet jocular, tone of voice and then casually dismiss death to chase after that impetuous boy .

5775443
I try not to notice the good things that happen to you, for fear that my attention might scare them off and en-shitify your life in turn. I do the same in my own life, in hopes that my good things will get comfortable and stick around for awhile .

[OddDreams]

It was the Piano. Falling.

[Georg]

One nice thing about living in Kansas with tornadoes. You never hear "The earthquake missed us by a few blocks."

[HorseWordFan]

5775649
On the other hand, however, the earthquake won't suddenly realize it missed a spot, swerve back, and devour your house after it passed it by initially.