D.C. Residents React To 5.8 Magnitude Earthquake (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON - Tuesday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake sent thousands of people into the streets of downtown Washington, D.C., where employees from an array of government agencies and chain restaurants stood together along the sidewalks for more than an hour as their buildings were being cleared for re-entry.

The Huffington Post caught up with several bystanders and asked about their experience in the earthquake, which reverberated up the East Coast as far north as New England, and initially had some D.C. residents worried that the intense shaking was an attack on the nearby White House.

Comments

[KeyWestDan]

11:07 AM on 08/24/2011

If the quake had hit D.C. a little harder, maybe it would have made a point.

[pammiethekid]

12:21 PM on 08/24/2011

What, that there are some people who get off on other people's misfortune and pain? I think you've made that point pretty well yourself.

[KeyWestDan]

12:28 PM on 08/24/2011

Be an alarmist much?

[IrieMoon]

09:17 AM on 08/24/2011

It's funny to see so many comments saying that the East Coast residents are wimps because of their reaction to an earthquake. What a lot of you who make these comments are failing to realize is that our buildings are not built to withstand earthquakes because earthquakes are not common here. So an earthquake that may seem like nothing to you is a lot to us because we are more likely to see our buildings crumble than you are.

Thank you for your consideration and support.

[pammiethekid]

12:12 PM on 08/24/2011

Some people take a feeling of superiority wherever they can get it. Saying that East Coasters are wimps because they were scared is like saying Floridians are wimps when they face unexpected cold snap—which they would logically be unprepared for. I've been through several small earthquakes—in Alaska and in California, and they are ALWAYS scary, because you never know how far it's going to go. Most people in the country get it and are with you, no matter where we live!

[KIVPossum]

07:43 AM on 08/24/2011

Bunch of wussies.

[Brent Rossen]

07:39 AM on 08/24/2011

BORING!!! C'mon god, crank that b**ch up to 11!

[jbmorgen1]

07:17 AM on 08/24/2011

Come out to California, and you will find that a 5.8 quake is nothing to us. A 5.8 quake is more or less a after shock from a much larger magnitude quake. And no we not fall into the Pacific Ocean as some of you might claim.

[jbmorgen1]

07:23 AM on 08/24/2011

Correction:

Come out to California­, and you will find that a 5.8 quake is nothing to us. A 5.8 quake is nothing more than a after shock from a much larger magnitude quake. And no we will not fall into the Pacific Ocean as some of you from the Far East have already claimed.

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

08:47 AM on 08/24/2011

East coast cities are neither experienced with earthquakes of designed for them. It is expected that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake would bring down many buildings in DC.

I've lived in SE Alaska and experienced many west coast earthquakes while I was there. Minor ones, including a 6.0. Totally different...people there are familiar with them and the structures are build with them in mind. Not here.

Conversely, I could comment about the inability of Californians to drive in the NE during the winter, and not even during a Nor'easter.

[jbmorgen1]

09:25 AM on 08/24/2011

Yes indeed, some Californians cannot drive too well in the snow, then again, some of them cannot even drive too well in the rain which I have found in my home state. However, on a dry road you'd better let them pass you, because Californians do better when it is dry.

Yes, many structures in the Far East could not withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake which you are quite correct

[pammiethekid]

12:18 PM on 08/24/2011

Exactly. Earthquakes always scare me because I went through some bad ones as a kid in California, and I never know at first how far it will go. Lived in Anchorage for 12 years, and after awhile I got used to them, waking up to smaller ones that seemed as though the earth was rolling up under your back. But in Anchorage, people remember the quake of 1964 and take earthquakes seriously. And yes, we could all comment on how Californians deal with snow! :)

[Calvin Garner]

06:28 AM on 08/24/2011

Seems to me people in DC are pretty wimpy and used this earthquake as an opportunity to leave work early.....

[Chester Erickson]

02:37 AM on 08/24/2011

Spam

[hangdogit]

12:27 AM on 08/24/2011

I'm waiting for the Tea Party to claim they set off this quake to "shake up Washington" after failing to push the US into default.

[AnotherAngle]

07:02 AM on 08/24/2011

The earthquake was George Bush's fault, like everything else.

[sixletters]

09:00 AM on 08/24/2011

Who is George Bush? I'm not familiar with that name.

[LeeCalif]

11:27 PM on 08/23/2011

Funny. Not like an earthquake park ride.

[crayola 08b]

11:11 PM on 08/23/2011

with the first tremble my first thought was that something hit the building? afterall it's dc and where i work is pretty high profile. but then a few seconds later the whole building was moving and i was like uh, yeah this is an earthquake. and i grabbed my phone and skedaddled my tuckus to the nearest exit.

[littlebrowngirl]

10:29 PM on 08/23/2011

You ate in DC and your building is shaking. What is your first thought? Not earthquake.

[Chinja Diazcobb]

10:13 PM on 08/23/2011

I just love it. Right in the presidents back yard. TIME TO STOP THAT FRACKING!!!

[Hephaestion]

10:01 PM on 08/23/2011

We in DC were relieved that it was only an earthquake and not a terrorist attack. At first it sounded like explosions, but when I saw the walls shaking and things were falling off of shelves and walls, I realized it had to be an earthquake. I didn't even know an earthquake in DC was possible. But as I said, I was relieved that it wasn't a giant bomb going off, or planes crashing. 9/11 memories are still strong here, as in NYC.

[Paul J Hanley]

09:14 PM on 08/23/2011

5.8??? really? That's a Thursday in California.

[Dave Harpe]

10:58 PM on 08/23/2011

The lobbyists and politicians didn't think any more of it than the Californians, because they thought it was just their own staggering around caused by all the Manhattans they had for lunch.

[scoobydubious]

11:01 PM on 08/23/2011

wow, could you be any more of a cliche?

[macmanchgo]

08:46 PM on 08/23/2011

Still waiting for some good real time videos of the event! Where are the YouTubes?