And I thought I was imagining things! Saw the water in my daughter's aquariums start bouncing, and dresser mirror swaying. Floor felt like a trampoline. Figured it was the local marine base doing some sort of major excavation. 

@Ruthmarie: 3.7 miles isn't very deep for an earthquake. We had one a few days ago here in Long Beach, CA that was 12.2 miles deep. It was a 3.1 and the epicenter was only about 2 miles from here, but it barely shook at all.

That old, hard crust of the earth on the east coast is more effective at propogating waves, so eastern earthquakes are felt over a wider area. In addition, they produce more high frequency waves, so smaller buildings, like houses, shake more. (Did I mention that my DH was a geologist?) So it isn't that east coast people are just wimpier about earthquakes. Although it is true that for a California native, an earthquake that does no damage is no big deal.  But my first thought when I heard about this one was about all the brick buildings back there. There's a reason you don't find many brick buildings in California, and that those you do see are heavily reinforced. Brick buildings tend to shake apart and fall down in earthquakes. Brick buildings make me nervous.

@dede: I LOL at "curiousity satisfied"! Yep, now you've been there, done that, don't need to do it again. 

But now that y'all have experienced an earthquake, don't you think that tornados are scarier? I do.

@bonita:LOL.

I’m kind of an earthquake geek; I have a real-time earthquake map on my home page. In the last week there have been earthquakes in Machias, ME; Altamont, NY; Girard, OH; Marston, MO; Risco, MO; Ridgely, TN; Maryville, TN; Alex, OK; Spencer, OK; and a dozen or so around Cokedale, CO.  (Plus bunches west of the Rockies in Montana, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and of course, California.) But most of them were little onesies and twosies that you don’t even notice.

The thing is, in California we typically get two or three hundred a week. In the last week we’ve had about 340. Of course, that’s spread over a large area, but unless one gets up to about the magnitude of today’s Virginia quake, we don’t get very excited about it.  We kinda wait to see if things are going to start falling off shelves, and if they do, then we move under a stout table or into a hallway or other protected spot.  But I have a confession: I get seasick in large quakes.  Not in boats, not in cars, just in earthquakes.

By the way, a point of information for those of you who don’t live in earthquake country (usually!!). Running outside is generally NOT a wise move. Outside there may be bricks falling, broken windows falling, building facades coming loose, live power lines down, etc.; besides which, you may lose your balance and fall. Better to get under a sturdy table inside. Even in the unlikely event that the building collapses, you stand a good chance of being in a protected pocket where they’ll be able to get you out.  AFTER the earthquake stops, you can move outside to an open area if it’s safe to do so. Stay away from buildings outside. I saw pictures of people in DC today staring up at broken windows from right under them. Hello??!! Falling glass?

whaledancer said: "AFTER the earthquake stops, you can move outside to an open area if it’s safe to do so. Stay away from buildings outside. I saw pictures of people in DC today staring up at broken windows from right under them. Hello??!! Falling glass? "

Just caught this after posting above … LOL! oh, heck, yes, exactly what I was yelling at the screen about an hour ago!