Workers inspect rubble on top of the National Cathedral's 30-story-high central tower, after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Washington, D.C. area. Click to enlarge this image. Corbis
THE GIST
- The rare 5.8 earthquake that shook the eastern United States on Tuesday traveled over a wide area.
- Part of the reason is the Earth’s rocky shell on the East Coast is colder — and harder.
- The West Coast shell is also broken up by more active faults.
A rare 5.8 earthquake that rattled the eastern United States on Tuesday was felt over a wide area from Toronto, Canada down to Georgia due to the hard, brittle quality of the ground, experts said.
The quake that struck mid-afternoon near Richmond, Virginia was the strongest in the state since 1897, and shook the eastern seaboard for some 30 seconds, sparking a wave of panic among residents.
“Earthquakes of this magnitude are unusual in your area, but the fact that you shook so hard and the event was actually some distance from you is not unusual,” Thomas Jordan, director of Southern California Earthquake Center based at the University of Southern California, said.
BLOG: Virginia 5.8 Earthquake Rattles East Coast
The outer rocky shell of the Earth, known as the lithosphere, is colder on the East Coast than in California, which is well known for experiencing frequent earthquakes.
“So when something shakes, it is like hitting a bar of steel, it rings pretty well. Whereas on the West Coast, the rocks are higher temperature and it is more like hitting something quite a bit softer,” he said. More
The quake that struck mid-afternoon near Richmond, Virginia was the strongest in the state since 1897, and shook the eastern seaboard for some 30 seconds, sparking a wave of panic among residents.
“Earthquakes of this magnitude are unusual in your area, but the fact that you shook so hard and the event was actually some distance from you is not unusual,” Thomas Jordan, director of Southern California Earthquake Center based at the University of Southern California, said.
BLOG: Virginia 5.8 Earthquake Rattles East Coast
The outer rocky shell of the Earth, known as the lithosphere, is colder on the East Coast than in California, which is well known for experiencing frequent earthquakes.
“So when something shakes, it is like hitting a bar of steel, it rings pretty well. Whereas on the West Coast, the rocks are higher temperature and it is more like hitting something quite a bit softer,” he said. More
