Earthquakes have been hitting various places across the United States today. A quake of a reported 5.8 magnitude hit the east coast.
According to The Weather Channel, the quake’s epicenter was in Virginia and reports claim that it was felt in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Toronto and Ottawa.
@TWCBreaking
TWC BreakingPrelim 5.8 Earthquake epicenter about 34 miles NW of Richmond, VA. 87 miles SW of DC. Begin felt as far north as #NYC and New Jersey.
39 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto
Businesses are already exploiting the quake:
@BBQNYC
Southern HospitalityHey people WE ARE SERIOUS. We are having an earthquake party. If you have been evacuated join us for 20% off Milkshakes! 19 minutes ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto
Some are already making jokes at Redskins’ QB Rex Grossman’s expense:
@fauxjohnmadden
Faux John MaddenBREAKING – 5.9 magnitude Earthquake in DC area caused by God’s laughter at Rex Grossman’s playoff prediction. 21 minutes ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto
CNN tweets that the quake was felt in Martha’s Vineyard, where President Obama is:
@CNNnewsroom
CNN NewsroomBreaking News– #earthquake hits east coast of the United States — 5.8 magnitude. Quake felt in NY, DC, Martha’s Vineyard–where Obama is. 35 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Some are blaming Obama himself for the quake:
@KatieS
Katie Jacobs StantonThe earthquake in DC is Obama’s fault, too. 45 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
While there have been plenty of evacuations (including at the Pentagon), we’ve yet to see any reports of damage or injury from the quake.
It’s always interesting to see the different perspectives on the weather on Twitter (probably why they just announced a new partnership with the Weather Channel).
The quake isn’t the only weather event that’s currently on Twitter’s trending topics. Hurricane Irene is also on there at the moment. More on that here.
One really interesting aspect of this whole earthquake thing is that there was also a quake in Colorado last night – the strongest in the state since the 70s, according to reports. In fact, there have been quite a few around the country in the last day. Look at this map from Intellicast:
