Yes, we had an earthquake - Several

"The Great Earthquake of 2011"

This is now old news, however since we both work in town, at least 25 miles away from the epicenter, we headed home yesterday worried about what we might find. Our home is only 7 miles from the epicenter. Based on what we have heard about earthquakes, the effects should be much worse the closer you are.

However, we have learned something in the last day. Earthquakes East of the Rocky Mountains are different. Much of the information being repeated in the media is obviously second and third-hand garbage. The FACTS as witnessed are that significant damage from an earthquake East of the Rockies often occurs 60 or more miles from the epicenter. We saw damage on the news in Baltimore MD, Washington DC, Richmond VA, and our imagination began painting a picture of total destruction at home. Praise GOD, that was not the case. The damage at home was no worse and really far less than many places much further away.

A universal truth is that sub-standard construction and poor maintenance may stand for decades waiting for something like this. We have seen massive sections of collapsed brick veneer with no sign of a single tie. In some cases there was no structure to support the brick. Some chimneys in the area collapsed. Most appear to have been very neglected. Mortar joints do need to be maintained and repointed to prevent moisture from getting into the masonry. Water freezing in these joints can pop mortar out and damage the masonry itself. Much of the damage we saw being blamed on the earthquake was either poorly constructed ot had obviously been neglected for many, many years.

What we actually found at home was a small mess of debris knocked off shelves and out of cabinets. In most cases cabinet doors stayed closed but there was a booby-trap stacked inside. We carefully opened every cabinet and got a hand on anything breakable before it could fall. We did lose some ornamental/antique items that fell off shelves and broke. Oh Well.

Structural damage was limited to two hairline cracks in basement masonry walls. These new cracks follow the mortar joints, starting about 3 feet off the floor, and go to the top of the walls. The cracks are only visible on the inside walls. We could find no evidence of cracks in the brick on the outside. Most of it is above grade since this is a walk-out basement. We will need to keep a close eye on the brick and repoint if/where there is any evidence that moisture is getting into the walls.

"The Great Earthquake of 2011" seems to have caused more news and hype than real damage, Thank You, LORD!