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shenue
Aug31-11, 08:16 AM
I have been searching online trying to find information about any unusual/unexpected seismic activity on the east coast of U.S. before the earthquake struck on August 23rd. So far, I've not been able to find any articles about that subject. Has anyone seen any information on that topic? Earthquakes in that area are very rare, and I believe the August 23rd earthquake set a record, for that area, with a magnitute of 5.9. Because I live in a mid-atlantic state, and I felt last week's earthquake fairly strongly, I'm curious to know if any unusual activity had been recorded either days or weeks, etc., before the earthquake.
My thanks, in advance, to anyone who can enlighten me.

phyzguy
Aug31-11, 09:44 AM
This site has a wealth of information about recent and past earthquakes around the world.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html

You can see from this map:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/us_damage_eq.php

that while the earthquakes are much less common on the east coast than in the west, they do happen.

Evo
Aug31-11, 10:56 AM
Here you go.

The history of earthquakes in Virginia.

http://www.virginiaplaces.org/geology/quake.html

The last "big one" in Virginia (about a 5.8 on the Richter scale) was on May 31, 1897, in Pearisburg, the county seat of Giles County. The judge in the courthouse adjourned a trial, jumped over the railing, and fled outside with everyone else as the courthouse rattled, brick walls cracked, and chimneys fell over. It was Virginia's most powerful recorded earthquake - but our recorded memory extend back only a few centuries, and the geologic history of the state extends back hundreds of millions of years. In 1959, Giles County was shaken again by a 3.8 temblor. More recently, windows were broken in a Veterans Day, 1975 earthquake in Blacksburg.

and here

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/?region=Virginia

You might like this also.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/megaqk_facts_fantasy.php

shenue
Aug31-11, 02:28 PM
Thank you both so much for the links ! I appreciate the responses.