It's good to note that while all of Washington apparently was in a full-scale earthquake panic Tuesday, folks out here in New Mexico and Colorado managed to survive quite nicely a 5.3 magnitude earthquake that occurred just before midnight Monday nine miles southwest of Trinidad, Co., just north of the New Mexico border.
As far as I can determine there were no mass evacuations of buildings and no one decided to create a humongous traffic jam, which seems to be the Washington response to the kinds of natural events that routinely occur other places in the country.
Oh yeah, there's a bear loose here in my neighborhood in The Original Las Vegas, N.M., and we have not alerted the National Guard or the Homeland Security Department.
COMMENTS
Yes, another cheap shot at the Washington area. First, I would not characterize the response as panic. I work for a major government contractor. We evacuated the building and then when we got the okay we went back into work. No panic. Second, the "panic" is largely a result of the reporting of the liberal west coast media that has nothing better to do.
Dave 08/29/11 08:17 am ET
It's not a true comparison as all the factors involved are far different. I do appreciate the post as in face value it is very funny and true. We were talking about how ill equiped the people are here in the NCR when it comes to things like an earthquake. Lots of great minds and motivated individuals but it seems like anything related to instincts and common sense fall by the way side.
CRM 08/26/11 09:01 am ET
Very cute, Bob, we always like the snide comments we get from smug Westerners. Our initial unease was fully justified, however -- maybe if some jet planes hit a few buildings in your burg, you might get the jitters when a once-in-a-century earthquake hits you, too. As you should know, since you used to live here. Now, pipe down, please, or at least hop off the very crowded bandwagon of snarkfesters.
Kathleen 08/25/11 08:12 am ET
The point is that a 5.8 earthquake is NOT routine in this area of the country. The East Coast is in the middle of the tectonic plate, not on the edge like the West Coast. So we do not build for earthquakes. So, it is not very fair to ridicule East Coast people for getting into a little bit of a panic for something so atypical. There is a nice article by a geophycist that explains why our quake was felt a lot farther than a West Coast quake normally is. The geology of the areas is very, very different.
Now, I would make fun of anyone who knowingly builds in an areas that are earthquake prone, flood prone, hurricane prone, and then is shocked when they are hit with their expected local natural disaster.
PAH 08/25/11 06:19 am ET
_OF COURSE_ there weren't the Washington DC issues in Colorado. With very few buildings, very little infrastructure and only a few thousand people even living in the area of the Colorado quake in the first place, (there's probably more pronghorns and mule deer than people in Los Animas County Colorado), as opposed to the approximately 5.6 million living and working amid highrises and vulnerable old masonry buildings in the DC metro area - it's pretty much a ridiculous no-sequitur to even compare the two.
Now Really 08/24/11 04:16 pm ET