| Author | Message | ||
     Phillip Perkinson (Rover4x4) Senior Member Username: Rover4x4 Post Number: 557 Registered: 02-2003 |
My sister is in Richmond Va. she told me they had an earthquake ~4 or so on the Richter Scale. Did any of yall notice it? I read it was felt throughout the eastern seaboard. | ||
| Christopher Boese (Christopher) Member Username: Christopher Post Number: 233 Registered: 10-2002 |
Here it is: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/37.39.-79.-77.html | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2714 Registered: 02-2002 |
It was right at 4pm EST, a 4.5, epicenter just west of Richmond, fairly shallow (~3 mi). Some folks in Charlotte NC said they felt it, but it'd be faint that far. I was in wester VA heading from Grundy to Gate City at the time, and never noticed. -L | ||
| Phillip Perkinson (Rover4x4) Senior Member Username: Rover4x4 Post Number: 559 Registered: 02-2003 |
cool. what is your Geologic interest? | ||
| Michael Noe (Noee) Senior Member Username: Noee Post Number: 801 Registered: 03-2002 |
I live in Charlottesville, VA and I felt it quite nicely. Here is what caused it: Scalar EM Testing | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2715 Registered: 02-2002 |
BS is in straight-laced classical field geology. MS is in environmental and engineering geology. Did a year towards a PhD in Appalachian tectonics; to make a long story short, I couldn't afford school any longer.  I'm currently a geologist with the state of Virginia, in the coal-mining regulatory program. If you want to mine coal in VA, you turn an application into our office, and a team will review it to ensure that your mining plan is environmentally responsible, adheres to the applicable laws, is feasible, etc. If not, we explain the deficiencies, and allow you to correct them, then issue the permit. We also have inspectors to ensure that acitve permits mine according to the approved plans, and that afterwards, they are successfully reclaimed. If someone has a complaint that they think is related to mining (ie, a water well went dry and they think that it's because of nearby mining), we'll investigate it. Also, we do reclamation projects on older abandoned sites, too. I also teach introductory geology as a night-class at a nearby community college. FWIW.... -L | ||
| EricV (Bender2033) Senior Member Username: Bender2033 Post Number: 271 Registered: 08-2002 |
I am in richmond .. it was crazy. At first I thought it was a low flying plane or some construction going on one floor up. I called home and my wife said she grabbed the baby and was on her way outside because of all the commotion. | ||
| Craig Kobayashi (Koby) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Koby Post Number: 736 Registered: 02-2002 |
Rookies  Glad everyone's OK. | ||
| Greg Hirst (Gregh) Senior Member Username: Gregh Post Number: 386 Registered: 10-2002 |
4.5? Barely a mention on the news in California... | ||
| R. B. Bailey (Rover50987) Senior Member Username: Rover50987 Post Number: 694 Registered: 07-2002 |
Don't start with Leslie on geology, and the age of the earth, etc... Unless you really know what you are talking about! That was fun though! | ||
| Robert Sublett (Rubisco98) Senior Member Username: Rubisco98 Post Number: 1089 Registered: 04-2002 |
Excellent, I knew nothing of this. I've got seismographs placed at a couple of places in Virginia, now I'm excited to go check them to see if they got anything worth looking at. I'm guessing not though, since they are in Saltville and Abingdon. | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2716 Registered: 02-2002 |
West coast, you've got active tectonics.... plate subduction off the Northwest Pacific coast (ie, Cascade volcanoes, etc.), transform faults through most of coastal Cali (San Andreas, et. al.)... even further inland, you've got the Yellowstone caldera, and plenty of other things going on. East coast is old and "stable". Since Africa ripped away, things here have mostly been eroding. There's rebound / isostatic uplift, etc., but that's gently by comparison, and just gets it high enough to erode off some more... There are some small things that do go on... there's actually an East Tennessee seismic zone in the Chattanooga-Knoxville area, that's actually active... mostly sub 4 things, but several of 'em. http://tanasi.gg.utk.edu/quakemap.html Even more so than East Tennessee, West Tennessee has the potential to really rock some folks... There's a failed rift zone into which the Mississippi River has formed... one of the rift branches is what was responsible for the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes up north of Memphis... those things were up in the 8.4 range, they rang church bells in Boston. That's actually the most seismically active zone in North America.... you just don't feel 'em... http://tanasi.gg.utk.edu/NMSZvsSASZ.html There's a Central Virginia zone, too. http://www.geol.vt.edu/outreach/vtso/vtso.html Again, historically, one of the larger Virginia earthquakes was over in Giles County, and there's quite a few stories out there about it, too. California, sitting on a plate boundary, most definitely has a lot more bigger ones. However, since it constantly has them, it's expected. Since you don't feel most of the east-coast ones, when you do have one you can feel, it's "exotic", people here just aren't used to it. But, hey, they're gonna happen.... FWIW..... -L PS: Mr. Bailey, I don't know if I should make you write sentences or give you bonus points. lol.... | ||
| Eugene (Eugene) Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 128 Registered: 02-2003 |
Did anyone else see the Discovery Channel special on the Yellowstone Caldera? The special originally aired last year, but has been repeated several times since. Leslie-- Your posts really make me miss geology. My undergraduate research focused on the water quality of watersheds, primarily those that provide NYC's drinking water. I spent many nights in the lab analyzing water samples. The fun part was hiking into the Catskills every other day to retrieve the samples. -Eugene | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2721 Registered: 02-2002 |
Eugene, So, get out and go hiking! Get out and go off road! lol.... -L PS: I did see, it, too.... 'course, my TV usually stays on TLC or Discovery, or PBS for Nova... | ||
| Will Cupp (W_cupp) Member Username: W_cupp Post Number: 186 Registered: 07-2003 |
We felt a slight trimmer in Bridgewater, VA. About 120 miles from Richmond. Really rattled the Grandfather clock. | ||
| Jamie (Rover_puppy) Senior Member Username: Rover_puppy Post Number: 489 Registered: 05-2003 |
Leslie, That's amazing information. I'm impressed, I don't think I've ever met a geoligist. In fact, I've never learned much of anything about subjects like you just posted. Uh, oh - I hope I don't start veering down another tangent - I've got enough new stuff I'm trying to learn about Hands down, my most favorite all time movie is Short Circuit... you know the little robot guy who says: Number 5 is alive! Need input, input, input... I just wish I could learn as fast as Number 5 did!! I'm on my way to put that fancy word "tectonics" in my new search engine!!! | ||
| Ray Gerber (Raygerber) Member Username: Raygerber Post Number: 181 Registered: 09-2002 |
My wife insists she felt it inside our apt in Norfolk, Va. I was outside with my trusty dremel hacking away at my fenders and heard/felt nothing. I told her it was probably a big truck, a plane going into Norfolk, Int, or a train on the tracks about a mile away, but she's convinced. | ||
| David Zymowski (Davidz) Member Username: Davidz Post Number: 59 Registered: 04-2003 |
all this talk about geology, are any of you guys into Caving? not cave diving. But Caving.Ive been rooting around in caverns for some time now and its kind of a quiet sport. anyone else? | ||
| Jamie (Rover_puppy) Senior Member Username: Rover_puppy Post Number: 490 Registered: 05-2003 |
Leslie, New question, since I found place with search engine to read about tectonics (http://www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/louie/class/100/plate-tectonics.html) They show a satellite image of the volcanaic islands of the Galapagos hotspot. Is that location just a coincidence or is or does this have anything to do with the unique and unusual habitation of Glapagos (I'm pretty sure that is the name of the place that Saturday morning adventure show guy had on recently) - showed how all habitation got along well - even nursing other species offspring? I think that is where the unusual bird named the Blue Footed Boobie lives? (or maybe I've got my islands mixed up in which case I'll feel like a real ding bat, but it won't be the first time - lol!!) Thanks, Jamie | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2723 Registered: 02-2002 |
Ray, I'd expect that she did feel in it Norfolk. David, I used to cave quite a lot when I was an undergrad, did a lot of surveying. Over the past couple of years, I've done a bit of field-trip leading at places like Natural Tunnel, but not as much as I used to do. Jamie, A little easier map to grasp is at: http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eastern/plates.html Essentially, the surface of the earth is covered in these floating plates of rock. You can split the plates into two major categories, oceanic crust and continental crust. Oceanic crust is a lower-silica content, is more dense, and thinner. And young. Continental crust is richer in silica, thicker, older, and less dense. Originally, the earth had mostly oceanic crust covering it. Underneath the plates, in the mantle, there are large currents of heat moving through convection. These currents will shift the plates around, just like ice that's broken and floating around on a lake. When two oceanic crusts collide, one will subduct under the other. This subduction zone (see the 3rd image on the page you linked to), generates volcanism. That process will create a volcanic island arc, where the rock is richer in silica than the original seafloor. Think of Japan... that's an example of such. With time, several volcanic island arcs will end up colliding, and becoming a single mass. That will end up forming a microcontinent. Oceanic seafloor crust will continue to be subducted under continents, and will act as a conveyor bringing other volcanic island arcs into continental margins. Over time, continents will grow that way. New seafloor is made at spreading centers, where magma leaks out, and cools. That's how new oceanic crust is made, like at the Mid-Oceanic Ridge in the middle of the Atlantic. Hotspots are places where upwellings from the mantle form volcanoes in the middle of a plate, instead of at the edges. Hawaii, Yellowstone, those are examples of hotspots. Iceland is, too, but is in the middle of the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, too. Combining a near-equatorial position with a hotspot provides for an interesting locale. Also, when you have island isolation, evolution can take a turn and not be moderated by contact with a larger population. -L | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2724 Registered: 02-2002 |
Jamie, Try here to start: http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html -L | ||
| Phillip Perkinson (Rover4x4) Senior Member Username: Rover4x4 Post Number: 562 Registered: 02-2003 |
geology 101 thanks for the refresher. The mtns in the Smokey Mountain National Park used to be on the bottom of the ocean. | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2726 Registered: 02-2002 |
lol.... Correct, much of the rock that forms the Smoky Mountains was deposited as seafloor. For a primer on the geology of the Smokies, try: http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/sm/geology/ -L | ||
| Rob Goodall (Lobster) New Member Username: Lobster Post Number: 15 Registered: 06-2003 |
It shook my house pretty good. It felt like more trees falling on my house after Isabel. What is next? Hopefully 3-4 feet of snow. I am near the James river in western henrico county. | ||
| Adam Ross (Discodriveradam) Member Username: Discodriveradam Post Number: 124 Registered: 01-2003 |
I'm a pretty active caver. Some of you might have heard of the recent discovery of the "Rumble Room", which is part of the Rumbling Falls cave system in Spencer, TN (more specifically under Fall Creek Falls State Park), which is the second-largest known room (only Carlsbad Caverns in NM has a larger one). Anyway, the guys who found the room are in my local grotto, and we have been exploring it for the majority of the past three years. It's a truly amazing place; it's one the of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. Try this link for more info and the story of how the cave is at the center of public controversy: http://www.tnpeer.org/Spencer/Tennessean_11_21_01.htm Or this one for a little more info: http://www.darklightimagery.net/RFC/main.html | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2737 Registered: 02-2002 |
Adam, I used to do a HECK of a lot of caving in the vicinity... over at Cumberland Caverns, at Lockwood up near Bon Air, Lost Creek outside of Sparta, all the ones in Cookeville, etc. I've even got the copy of National Geographic Adventure issue that had that same pic in it... I've been needing to get down and see Ric Finch and Walt Crawford, see what they know about it... -L | ||
| SSV (Susannah) Senior Member Username: Susannah Post Number: 575 Registered: 06-2002 |
I was on Route 460 heading towards Lynchburg (from Roanoke) and didn't notice a thing...but was driving a Honda that belongs to my company...probably thought it was the cheap suspension on the POS! Had a friend call my cell and ask if I felt it...I thought he was pulling my leg!!!!! Wish I had been home. | ||
| Kristopher March (Apexdisco) Member Username: Apexdisco Post Number: 237 Registered: 02-2002 |
I work in Richmond's southside and felt the quake. Actually, the weird thing was I heard it seconds before it happened. | ||
| Adam Ross (Discodriveradam) Member Username: Discodriveradam Post Number: 125 Registered: 01-2003 |
I'm a pretty active caver. Some of you might have heard of the recent discovery of the "Rumble Room", which is part of the Rumbling Falls cave system in Spencer, TN (more specifically under Fall Creek Falls State Park), which is the second-largest known room (only Carlsbad Caverns in NM has a larger one). Anyway, the guys who found the room are in my local grotto, and we have been exploring it for the majority of the past three years. It's a truly amazing place; it's one the of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. Try this link for more info and the story of how the cave is at the center of public controversy: http://www.tnpeer.org/Spencer/Tennessean_11_21_01.htm Or this one for a little more info: http://www.darklightimagery.net/RFC/main.html | ||
| Adam Ross (Discodriveradam) Member Username: Discodriveradam Post Number: 126 Registered: 01-2003 |
Sorry for the double post. Leslie, Lost Creek area is where we go usually; easy access and great formations. And did I mention excellent off-roading? Definitely an added bonus. If you've been to Sparta recently, you've probably seen me; my brother and I have the only Rovers in town. Anyway, let me know if you want to get back down here and cave; there's a new extension of Camp's Gulf Cave in Spencer that we are going to do a week-long stay in, if you're interested. | ||
| Tommy Dougherty (Skydiver) Member Username: Skydiver Post Number: 161 Registered: 03-2002 |
The epicenter was about 12 miles (straight line) from my house, and about 20 miles (straight line) from my office. I was at work at the time, and everything started shaking.. Initially, I thought there was a large plane flying overhead. (Office is in the flight path of the Richmond Airport.) This added a little excitement to an otherwise boring day. | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Dweb Lounge Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2744 Registered: 02-2002 |
Adam, it's been since '99 since I've even been west of Knoxville.... I don't think I've been to Sparta since '96.... anymore I'm heading southeast into northwestern North Carolina, it seems... But, I need to get back out across old stomping grounds, see how things have changed.... -L | ||
| Adam Ross (Discodriveradam) Member Username: Discodriveradam Post Number: 129 Registered: 01-2003 |
You'd be surprised at what you have missed... | ||
| chuck yarbrough (Cptyarderho) New Member Username: Cptyarderho Post Number: 32 Registered: 06-2003 |
I teach HS south of Richmond in Chester, and I felt it all right... never felt that before, kinda freaky. |
