Panic and confusion was triggered in Washington D.C. Friday morning by a mild earthquake in Maryland that would make Californians yawn. The D.C. earthquake caused no property damage or traffic delays, and the trains ran on time. But after the ground rumbled and buildings vibrated for about 10 seconds, thousands of confused individuals dialed 911. {There was no word of fighter jets scrambling or members of the executive branch being hustled to an undisclosed location|Evidently there was no need for fighter jets to scramble or to send the President to his bunker|No reports surfaced of fighter jets scrambling or politicians running for their bunkers.
Low magnitude earthquake causes high volume media madness
The effects of the earthquake were considered mild, but they were magnified exponentially by the media because it affected Washington D.C.. MSNBC reports that the U.S. Geological Survey said the D.C. earthquake struck at with a magnitude of 3.6 on the Richter scale at 5:05 a.m. ET. The epicenter was near Rockville, Md. Residents in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia Pennsylvania and also the D.C. area reported rumbling, the USGS said.
D.C. earthquake risk not significant
A geophysicist with the USGS wasn’t shocked by the earthquake in Maryland. Amy Vaughn told the Washington Post the D.C. earthquake was not “something entirely out of the ordinary”. She did say, however, that it was very rare for the area to have a quake registering above 3. The quake was the largest measured within the area since 1974, when the database was created to track seismic activity. As to Washington D.C. earthquake risk, the largest magnitude earthquake before Friday morning’s was a tremor of 2.7 on the Richter scale in 1993, Vaughan said. There was also a 2.6 tremor in 1990 and 2.5 shivers in 1997, 1993 and 1974, as outlined by USGS earthquake data.
The earthquake was mistaken as a jet crash
Within about two hours of the earthquake in Maryland, more than 6,700 individuals had reported the quake on the USGS Web site. CNN reports that some residents in and around Washington D.C. awoke Friday to what one witness said sounded like a jet about to crash outside his bedroom window. The quake sounded like an explosion Judy Rudolf told CNN. The USGS said small aftershocks could possibly be expected, but they will diminish rapidly.
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