Baltimore earthquake 2011

It was widely felt--from Maine to Georgia, west to Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Chicago, and southeastern Canada--over a broad area inhabited by one-third of the U. DYFI site. Photo of chimney damage at a house in Louisa County, Virginia. This was a result from a magnitude 5. Public domain. Earthquakes in the Eastern U.

The red star marks the epicenter of the August mainshock. Unlike California, which is situated on the western edge of the North American plate grinding along the very active San Andreas fault, the East Coast of the U.

While the rate of earthquakes is lower central and eastern U. The Central Virginia Seismic Zone. Epicenters since red circles and notable historic epicenters. The zone extends east-west about km from the Fall Line to Blue Ridge and is about km wide in the north-south direction. Scientists who study eastern and central North America earthquakes often work from the hypothesis that modern earthquakes occur as the result of slip on pre-existing faults that were formed in earlier geologic eras and that have been reactivated under the current stress conditions.

However, even though several small earthquakes are recorded each month in the Eastern U. For the fault that ruptured, however, geologic boundaries imaged above and below the fault do not show evidence for large displacement, which suggests that the fault may not fit the reactivation model and instead may be a relatively new fault.

The shaking was felt by approximately one-third of the U. The shaking caused the first ever shutdown of a U. Raw DYFI data suggest some general patterns, including significant apparent amplification of seismic waves along Chesapeake Bay, in parts of the District of Columbia D. No evidence of surface rupture has been found, but there were small sand boils identified near the epicenter caused by strong shaking as well as rock falls up to km away. For comparison, a M5. This reveals the extraordinary distances that damaging ground shaking can extend in eastern North America — about 10 times further than damaging or felt shaking extends in western North America.

This discrepancy is due to the older and denser rocks of the earth's crust on the East Coast that seismic waves can travel through more efficiently without losing energy. The August 23, earthquake marked the first time scientists were able to associate seismic activity in the area with a particular fault since it was large enough to produce enough aftershocks to delineate the causative fault.

Moderate to large earthquakes are infrequent in the Central and Eastern U. What we do know is from historical accounts; past earthquake magnitudes have been estimated by comparing recent measured earthquake magnitudes and modern accounts of shaking intensity with the historical accounts of reported intensities. Reported experiences for this earthquake provided data that can be used to more accurately estimate the shaking distribution from moderate-to-large future earthquakes in this area, as well as help us better estimate the magnitudes of older historical events with fewer historical accounts.

Indeed, this earthquake reminded us that damaging earthquakes, though infrequent, are a part of living in the eastern United States. An earthquake of the same size in the Eastern U. Ultimately, scientific studies of this earthquake have helped scientists confirm with empirical data what they were previously able to only estimate or model from the sparse data and smaller earthquakes in this area. Eventpage Tectonic summary, maps and data. Did You Feel It? Shaking from the earthquake reported by citizen scientists.

ShakeMap Shaking recorded on seismic instruments. The 23 August Mw moment magnitude 5. Seismic data indicate that the earthquake rupture occurred on a southeast-dipping reverse fault and Ground shaking due to earthquakes in the eastern United States EUS is felt at significantly greater distances than in the western United States WUS and for some earthquakes it has been shown to display a strong preferential direction.

Nearly 1 year ago, on 23 August, tens of millions of people in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada were startled in the middle of their workday P. Treating the shaking as if it were a fire drill, The 23 August Mineral, Virginia, earthquake Mw 5.

Although no large landslides occurred, the shaking did trigger many rock and soil falls from steep river banks and natural cliffs in the epicentral area and from steep road cuts along, and The intensity data collected by the U.

More than , This map summarizes two and a third centuries of earthquake activity. The seismic history consists of letters, journals, diaries, and newspaper and scholarly articles that supplement seismograph recordings seismograms dating from the early twentieth century to the present. All of the pre-instrumental historical earthquakes were large enough to Blanpied discusses how scientists are using the August 23 earthquake to inform estimates of the region's seismic hazard.

Mike Blanpied discusses whether a similar event could occur again in the region in the near future, and in an earthquake, what you can do to stay stay safe. The U. Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile deep. People also felt it in New York and Rhode Island. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. The quake was centered near Louisa, Va. Fire department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright says there have been widespread evacuations throughout the city. Many people who fled downtown high-rises were trying to reach friends and family by cell phone, but service was interrupted. There has been damage reported in Southeast Baltimore near Bank Street where a spire from a church collapsed onto the road.

There are no reports of any injuries there. Adam May reports in the WJZ newsroom, strong shaking was felt. People went under doorframes for safety and some people left the building. Some lights and televisions went off during the shaking. Hundreds of people stayed outside on the sidewalks in downtown Baltimore, not wanting to return to their high-rise buildings. Once people got outside and realized the worst was over, many of them started to feel a lot better.

Amtrak says its crews are inspecting stations and railroad infrastructure before returning to normal operation. The rail service says no injuries have been reported but passengers should expect delays. She announced that nonessential city employees are authorized to leave work early. Rawlings-Blake has also sent people to check out all bridges around the city and ordered police officers to check the traffic patterns downtown and help people get home safely.

In the Washington area, Metro appears to have emerged from the earthquake unscathed. But he says all trains have been slowed to 15 m.

Maryland state employees have returned to the statehouse after an evacuation lasting roughly 30 minutes due to the earthquake. Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for Gov. She says the room she was meeting with other staffers was shaking. Several staffers said they initially thought scaffolding around the statehouse dome, which is being repainted, had collapsed.