Just had an Earthquake...

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AnsleyS

AnsleyS

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Feb 3, 2009
58
Camper Nicholson 39 CC Rockland, Maine
MaineSail,

We felt it up in Augusta. Shaking at the dinner table that sent the wine bottle wobbling.

According to the geologists Maine gets an average of six earthquakes a year. Most are far below the surface and are not noticed by people. We would all like to think that the surface of the earth is stable but the crust is moving all of the time and ripples and wobbles are to be expected.
 
dscribner

dscribner

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Nov 9, 2008
1,338
Pearson-O'Day 290 Portland Maine
We're about 12 miles from the epicenter. At first I thought my son had hit the house with his car, certainly more likely than an earth quake, or a parking ticket, or calling heads and getting it. Then I figured the furnace had exploded, so I naturally ran into the basement, to where the inferno and all the choking, noxious fumes must be. Drawing a long straw I reasoned an earthquake. Pretty cool since nothing was damaged.
 
Gunni

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
Looks like it was a relatively shallow tremor - 4 miles, but because New England sits on shallow crystalline bedrock the vibration propagates much further. Like banging on a steel plate as compared to a sheet of foam core.

As per the comments, most people rationalize some other activity going on instead of an earthquake. I once rode out a California earthquake in the backcountry thinking I had stepped onto the back of a giant tortoise - completely weird assumption, but it made more sense than the gyrating rock below my feet. We inhabit a living planet, as impermanent as ourselves, just on a different timescale. Wondrous.
 
Chris Patterson

Chris Patterson

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Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
Originally Posted by dscribner
"At first I thought my son had hit the house with his car..."

A little off subject, but reminded me.
Years ago I used to repair power poles, and early one Sunday morning I arrived at the scene of a broke pole. The pole had been literally cut in half, the car that clipped it had slid sideways through the yard, and the front right wheel, (with car), was sitting ON the concrete front porch that was about a foot off the ground. The auto was inches from the front door.
And it was his house.

"Honey, I'm home".

Funniest dam thing I'd seen in ages..
 
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dscribner

dscribner

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Nov 9, 2008
1,338
Pearson-O'Day 290 Portland Maine
Got a call a few years ago. "Your son is OK but he's been in an accident". Got to the scene. On a really bad corner known for killing cars, he had flipped his Frontier end-for-end. It was stopped by a huge pine tree in the witness's lawn, on it's roof, tailgate into the tree. He had nary a scratch.

Got a call "Can you get Mike on the highway? He's OK, but he's been in an accident with our van". The rear hatch was in the middle seat. He had nary a scratch.

Out working on the lawn. My son pulls up in my Frontier, the driver's side all stove up where it was laying on it minutes previous. Minutes later the statey pulls in because even though there was no other vehicle involved, Mike had left the scene of an accident. He had nary a scratch.

One Sunday afternoon, the police call. "Is Mike there? He needs to remove his vehicle from public property because it's leaking fluids all over the ground." We got over there and had his S10 with the front all stove in towed to our house.

So . . . the hitting the house thing is, well, kind of possible.

Worst thing, in 34 years of driving, I've never had a ticket or been in an accident.
 
jepomer

jepomer

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Jan 22, 2008
507
Catalina 310 278 Lyndeborough NH
Yesterday I discovered damage from the earthquake.
It was much more painful than the reports of lawn chairs tipping.

My beloved motorcycle was no longer upright on its stand.
It was laying on its side, one handle wedged between the rungs of my extension ladder.
I suspect that with all of the earth shaking motion, the hard packed gravel driveway "liquified", no longer able to support the weight on the side stand...
 
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