I didn't want to move to Maryland. Apart from my time living in Switzerland, I spent my entire childhood in Massachusetts. My school was there, and so were all of my friends. I spent every day outside, and in the winter, I loved going out in the snow. So when my dad got a new job in 2011, and we had to pack up all of our things and move to Bethesda, MD, you could say that I was less than thrilled.
Massachusetts could get hot in the summer, but the weather in the DMV area was a completely different story. We moved in the middle of June, right when summer was at its peak. I wasn't used to 95°F and I remember lying on the sofa every day, unable to move in the humidity, while my little sister, who was a little over 18 months at the time, formed a very strong bond with our new shower, finding it the best way to cool off from the sweltering heat.
All that being said, over time I started to get used to living in Maryland. Plus, being near Washington D.C., a city with such a rich history and a multitude of museums which I had never been to, was very exciting for my eight-year-old brain. Over the next two months, we spent almost every weekend traveling into the city and visiting a new museum. I slowly got used to the heat and now, having lived in Maryland for over a decade, I don't mind it as much.
In August of that same year, my grandmother decided to visit us from England. My sisters and I were thrilled and especially excited to show her all of the new shops and fun food places that we had discovered in our new town. One particular Tuesday, we decided to walk from our house, which is about half a mile from the center of town, to go to our favorite new playground and show our grandmother the frozen yogurt shop with the glowing lights on the ceiling. After getting frozen yogurt topped with Nerds, gummy worms, and inordinate amounts of sprinkles, we decided to walk across the street to the playground, which had a giant climbing structure in the shape of a fire truck. As the light turned from a red hand into the glowing white man that signaled that we could now cross, my grandmother took her first step off of the curb. Then, at about the halfway point of the crosswalk, she tripped. Fortunately, my grandmother was not hurt from her fall, and after making sure that was the case, I quickly scrambled across the road to get to the playground. Yet, when I got there, I could tell that the usual jovial energy that I found there had been completely sucked out of the place.
I watched as people from across the streets came out of their houses and shops, all asking the same question "Are you okay?" "Are you okay?" "Did you feel the earthquake?" It was then that my grandmother realized that her falling over had not simply been a misstep.
Overwhelmed by the chaos in town, we decided to return home and see if there were any damages. When we got there, from the outside, nothing seemed to be out of place. However, when we entered and walked into the living room, it was a mess. Books were strewn all over the floor and a plant in the corner of the room had tipped over, spreading dirt all over the carpet. There was glass on the floor of the kitchen and some of the mugs in the cupboard were leaning against the door, preparing to drop. Luckily, only two glasses had broken in the kitchen and besides that, our house had not suffered any structural damage. The same could not be said of our neighbor's houses, and especially not in Washington D.C. Two of the principal tourist attractions in Washington D.C. are the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. These were two tourist attractions that I had not yet visited and had plans to go to in the coming weeks. It became very clear that this was no longer possible.
We found out later by reading the news that what had occurred had been a magnitude 5.8 earthquake that originated in Mineral, Virginia, about 80 miles from where we live. In fact, due to the Eastern US having older rocks with older faults, seismic waves can cross them more easily when an earthquake occurs. This earthquake occurred in metamorphic rocks in the Appalachian Piedmont, which are weaker than their sedimentary or igneous counterparts. The picture below shows a comparison between the 2011 earthquake in Virginia and one that occurred in California, near Napa, in 2006.
While this earthquake was not as big as the one in Napa, or others that have occurred throughout history, its economic impact was huge. It was estimated that the shakes of the earthquake were felt by approximately 1/3 of the US population, ranging from Maine down to Florida, and while no lives were lost due to the earthquake, it is reported that there was between $200 to $300 million lost in property damages.
While earthquakes don't occur as frequently as thunderstorms and hurricanes on the East Coast, their economic impact can be huge. Additionally, the structural damages that can be inflicted on buildings can sometimes take years to recover from. Following the earthquake, the National Cathedral and the Washington Monument were shut down and didn't reopen until about 5 years ago.
I consider myself lucky that my house and family were not harmed, but knowing what I know about the geology of the East Coast and how many cities rest on these weaker metamorphic rocks, there's no telling what the damages of the next earthquake could be. Hopefully, I won't have to find out anytime soon but if I do, I hope that with my new knowledge of geological features, which before was shaky at best (pun intended), I will be better prepared for any earthquake or geohazard that comes my way.
P.S. I still haven't been to the Washington Monument :(
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Very informative! I was also impacted by this earthquake. This is very well done, and I’m not sure if I can tell my story without repeating a lot of the same information.
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