East Coast Earthquake

DamnitAll · Aug 24, 2011

I dig this stuff:

National Zoo Animals React to the Earthquake
The vibrations from yesterday’s 5.8 earthquake were keenly felt at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park; all animals, staff and visitors were safe and no injuries were reported. Zoo buildings were closed to the public and checked by safety personnel for structural damage. Zoo gates were closed to incoming visitors but exits were open for guests to leave at their leisure. The Zoo reopened this morning on time.
Animal care staff recognized changes in animal behavior.
Great Apes

The earthquake hit the Great Ape House and Think Tank Exhibit during afternoon feeding time.

About five to ten seconds before the quake, many of the apes, including Kyle (an orangutan) and Kojo (a Western lowland gorilla), abandoned their food and climbed to the top of the tree-like structure in the exhibit.

About three seconds before the quake, Mandara (a gorilla) let out a shriek and collected her baby, Kibibi, and moved to the top of the tree structure as well.

Iris (an orangutan) began “belch vocalizing”—an unhappy/upset noise normally reserved for extreme irritation—before the quake and continued this vocalization following the quake.

Small Mammals

The red ruffed lemurs sounded an alarm call about 15 minutes before the quake and then again just after it occurred.

The howler monkeys sounded an alarm call just after the earthquake.

The black-and-rufous giant elephant shrew hid in his habitat and refused to come out for afternoon feeding.

Reptile Discovery Center

All the snakes began writhing during the quake (copperheads, cotton mouth, false water cobra, etc.). Normally, they remain inactive during the day.

Murphy, the Zoo’s Komodo dragon, sought shelter inside.

Invertebrates

One of the volunteers at the Invertebrate Exhibit was feeding the cuttlefish and it was not responsive. The water is normally very calm in the tank, but the earthquake caused the tank to shake and created waves, which distracted the cuttlefish during feeding.

Beavers

Keepers were feeding the beavers and hooded mergansers (a species of duck) when the earthquake hit. The ducks immediately jumped into the pool. The beavers stopped eating, stood on their hind legs and looked around, then got into the water, too. They all stayed in the water. Within an hour, some of the beavers returned to land to continue eating.

Great Cats

The lion pride was outside. They all stood still and faced the building, which rattled during the quake. All settled down within minutes.

Damai (a female Sumatran tiger) jumped at the start of the earthquake in a startled fashion. Her behavior returned to normal after the quake.

Bird House

The Zoo has a flock of 64 flamingos. Just before the quake, the birds rushed about and grouped themselves together. They remained huddled during the quake.

Front Royal

During the quake all Eld's deer and tufted deer immediately ran out of the barns and appeared agitated.

The Prezwalski’s horses and scimitar-horned oryx hardly noticed although those that were inside did amble outside eventually.

Immediately after the quake the female Eld's deer herd began alarm calling (a high staccato barking sound) until they were called by their keeper and subsequently all congregated in the corner of the pasture nearest the keeper for a short time.

Giant Pandas

According to keepers, the giant pandas did not appear to respond to the earthquake.

Click to expand...

Nice work, primates (especially the lemurs)... not so much, giant pandas.

ASU2003 · Aug 24, 2011

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Did-Fracking-Cause-the-Vir-by-Dr-Stuart-Jeanne-B-110823-993.html

I wonder if anyone will investigate this? Drilling has been stopped other paces because of it causing earthquakes.

martian · Aug 24, 2011

It's funny, that. Some of the guys in the office noticed, some didn't.

We do have a lot of trucks going by here, so I'm guessing those of us who didn't notice just chalked the rumble up to that.

wolf · Aug 24, 2011

Either that or some of those guys are related to the Pandas.

Cayvmann · Aug 24, 2011

Felt the hell out of it in Raleigh, NC. Not greatly violent per se, but I knew what it was immediately. I thought it was cool, my first earthquake, but the office idiots are talking Armageddon and Revelations. For freaks sake

CinnamonGirl · Aug 24, 2011

DamnitAll said: ↑

I dig this stuff:
Nice work, primates (especially the lemurs)... not so much, giant pandas.
Click to expand...

That is so cool! Thanks for posting it, I dig stuff like that, too.

Cayvmann said: ↑

I thought it was cool, my first earthquake, but the office idiots are talking Armageddon and Revelations. For freaks sake
Click to expand...

Yeaaaaaah, there were a few "God is sending a wakeup call" posts on my facebook feed. I walked away before I made any snarky comments about plate tectonics and fault lines.

Craven Morehead · Aug 24, 2011

BadNick · Aug 24, 2011

My office is on the second floor with a suspended tile ceiling and a few seconds after the quake started I saw a couple panels bounce up about 6 inches and fall back and the mild shaking continued. I wasn't sure what was happening but since I didn't hear any sounds or other plausible clues about the cause, I right away suspected an earthquake.

I tried to call my wife with my cell phone but the call failed. A few seconds later as I was still holding the phone she sent me a text asking me if I felt the quake and everything was OK at home, and my text reply also went through.

MSD · Aug 24, 2011

I was at work. We were in the elevator at the time and assumed that they were simply being more reluctant and grumpier than usual.

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East Coast Earthquake

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East Coast Earthquake

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