6.0 Earthquake Rattles Central Florida

[MandR 0]

WOW....... I thought I was loosing it today when I told my wife that the building was swaying a little for about 15 seconds here in Fort Lauderdale.

Come to find out that a 6.0 quake in the Gulf of Mexico rattled us Floridians around 11:00am today.

Hurricanes are more than we can handle..... thank you very much. NO QUAKES PLEASE

Edited September 10, 2006 by MandR

[LaL 418]

its been pretty bizarre down here the past couple of years....

[iceyspots 0]

wow that's awful. I hope nobody was hurt.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Earthquake? Here? I didn't notice a thing.

[Ana and Dan 0]

Pretty small earthquake compared to West Coast standards. Much to small to generate a tsunami, but unusual for that part of the country for sure.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Earthquake? Here? I didn't notice a thing.

According to USGS, "felt in much of Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi."

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Earthquake? Here? I didn't notice a thing.

According to USGS, "felt in much of Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi."

Well, "felt" is not exactly the same as "rattled", is it? That is besides the point that I didn't even feel it. Now, one may call me insensitive to the earth's vibrations but sure as hell, I wasn't rattled by it.

[Ana and Dan 0]

This earthquake was more than likely a liberal conspiracy to cause mass destruction in Florida and make Jeb's job that much more difficult.

[iceyspots 0]

This earthquake was more than likely a liberal conspiracy to cause mass destruction in Florida and make Jeb's job that much more difficult.

oh noes! not another conspiracy theory!

[Kajikit 65]

I was in church then listening to the sermon... and I have to say I didn't notice a thing!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Here is a really cool link to a daily seismic website showing where and what magnitude of earthquakes are experienced around the world each day. Click on the circles to get the specific information for each quake. Today's Florida quake shows up as a 5.8 out in the Gulf of Mexico and was 'felt' in parts of Florida, Alabama, Missisippi, Louisiana and Georgia.

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

Associated Press

Gulf of Mexico Quake Felt in Fla., La.

By PHIL DAVIS , 09.10.2006, 05:01 PM

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico sent shock waves through an area from Louisiana to southwest Florida on Sunday, but no damage was reported, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The earthquake, centered about 260 miles southwest of Tampa, was too small to trigger a tsunami or dangerous waves, the agency said. The USGS received more than 2,800 reports from people who felt the 10:56 a.m. quake.

Scientists said it was the largest and most widely felt of more than a dozen earthquakes recorded in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in the last 30 years.

"This is a fairly unique event," said Don Blakeman, an analyst with the National Earthquake Information Center who said the quake was unusually strong. "I wouldn't expect any substantial damage, but it is possible there will be some minor damage."

The most prevalent vibration, which last for about 20 seconds, was felt on the gulf coast of Florida and in southern Georgia, Blakeman said. But residents in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana also called in reports.

"It rattled our trailer pretty good," said Dan Hawks, who lives near Ocala in the small central Florida community of Pedro. "The house started shaking. We could actually see it moving. We looked at each stupidly and said, 'What's the deal?'"

Florida counties along the Gulf of Mexico called the state emergency operations center with reports of tremors but no damage was reported, spokesman Mike Stone said. Gov. Jeb Bush was informed of the situation, Stone said.

The epicenter is an unusual location for earthquake activity, but scientists recorded a magnitude 5.2 temblor in the same location on Feb. 10.

"This kind of occurrence is unusual in that spot, especially for an earthquake of this size," Blakeman said of Sunday's quake.

The temblor was unusual because it was not centered on a known fault line. The "midplate" earthquake, deep under the gulf, was probably the result of stresses generated by the interaction of tectonic plates in the earth's crust, the agency said.

Only one of Florida's rare earthquakes caused significant damage. In January 1879, St. Augustine residents reported heavy shaking that knocked plaster off the walls.

A more recent temblor, in November 1952, prompted a resident of Quincy to report the shaking "interfered with the writing of a parking ticket," the USGS said.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Edited September 11, 2006 by Kathryn41

[*Robert* 2]

Earthquake? Here? I didn't notice a thing.

Ditto... didn't even know there was one!!!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Earthquake? Here? I didn't notice a thing.

Ditto... didn't even know there was one!!!

Tell ya', the thunder yesterday afternoon shook things up more than this earthquake.

Media: always exaggerating things...

[Reba 2]

meh, it usually depends on what type of structure you're in when it rumbles thru. When I was a teen, a 4.1 (pretty weak and small) rumbled thru Ontario, and our house wobbled a bit, because it didn't have a foundation, it just rested on cinder blocks.

A few years later, another one about the same mag. rumbled thru, and I was walking thru downtown Toronto, didn't notice a thing.

A few years after that, the day before my sister's wedding a 4.4 fer crimeny, rumbled thru, and I was in my car driving up the highway. My car swerved a bit, like it had been hit by a wind burst (which happens along that stretch fairly often, its open fields). But there was no wind. Found out on the evening news it had been an earthquake.

I missed the 5.something that hit northern Vermont a few years ago, I was down here visiting. It hit early Sunday morning, about 7am or so. Mum said the house shook and rattled the cupboards. Most other people who were still asleep didn't notice tho. And my Mum lived several hundred miles away from the epicentre in Central Ontario. Still shook the house, which by then had a proper foundation and basement.

Earthquakes are weird. We thought we'd had one here in Feb. but it was a chemical plant down the road exploded

[chri'stina 190]

Earthquake? Here? I didn't notice a thing.

I had no idea about this til reading it right now. Felt nothing at all. We're not supposed to have earthquakes here!

It would be hard to tell whether something was thunder or a small earthquake around here though. The thunder shakes our windows pretty badly.

Edited September 11, 2006 by stina&suj