On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 2:48 PM, Owen DeLong <owen@delong.com> wrote:
A 5.8 (or 5.9, I've seen conflicting numbers) really isn't likely to do all that much damage, even on the East Coast.
A 5.6 quake in Newcastle, Australia in 1989 caused, according to Wikipedia, "13 fatalities, 160 people hospitalised, 300,000 people affected. 50,000 homes damaged, 300 buildings demolished. Damage estimated at $4 billion". I left Newcastle in 1997, and even then there were will houses that had not been fully repaired from the damage caused. A smaller 5.2 quake in 1994 "only" caused $35 million worth of damage. So whilst it's not unusual for 5.x quakes to pass without causing any real damage, there's a lot more to it than just the magnitude... Even the 3.6 magnitude one in CA last night was enough to cause my mini-UPS at home to jump onto battery for a few seconds. Scott.