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Media Advisory: Anniversary of Magnitude 5.8 Central Virginia Earthquake


Media Advisory: Anniversary of Magnitude 5.8 Central Virginia Earthquake

WASHINGTON, D.C. — August 23, 2012 marks the one year anniversary of the M5.8 earthquake that was centered in Louisa County, Virginia.  To commemorate the event, Virginia, Maryland, and DC officials are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the National Park Service (NPS) to hold a press conference at the Washington Monument.  This event comes on the heels of National Preparedness Month, an effort to engage the public in disaster preparedness activities. 

At the press conference, senior government officials will discuss lingering effects of the earthquake and progress made in rebuilding and recovery efforts; current understanding of earthquake threat and likelihood of future events; and participation in a regional/national “ShakeOut” earthquake drill involving millions of people.

WHERE:         

Grassy area facing the Washington Monument in between 14th and 15th Streets in Washington, DC

 WHEN:

 August 23, 2012 from 10:30AM – 11:00AM

 WHO:              

  • Brett Burdick, Deputy Director, Virginia Department of Emergency Management
  • Chris Geldart, Director, DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency
  • Tim Manning, Deputy Administrator, FEMA
  • David L. Miller, Associate Administrator, FEMA
  • Marcia McNutt, Director, USGS
  • Jim Wilkinson, Executive Director, Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium
  • Bob Vogel, Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks, NPS

 

All media are invited to attend; press packets will be made available. Side interviews will be allowed following the press conference.  Audio mult box will be provided. 

Limited parking for microwave or satellite trucks is on eastbound Jefferson Drive between 14th and 15th Streets in the far left-hand lane. Parking is on a first-come, first-serve basis, and is not guaranteed. There is room for a maximum of six live vehicles parked bumper to bumper. There is no room for any news crew cars or personal vehicle parking in this area. Suggested parking for crew and personal vehicles is on Jefferson Drive east of 14th Street.

USGS Newsroom


More information

Parameter Value Description
Magnitude mb The magnitude for the event.
Longitude ° East Decimal degrees longitude. Negative values for western longitudes.
Latitude ° North Decimal degrees latitude. Negative values for southern latitudes.
Depth km Depth of the event in kilometers.
Place Textual description of named geographic region near to the event. This may be a city name, or a Flinn-Engdahl Region name.
Time 1970-01-01 00:00:00 Time when the event occurred. UTC/GMT
Updated 1970-01-01 00:00:00 Time when the event was most recently updated. UTC/GMT
Timezone offset Timezone offset from UTC in minutes at the event epicenter.
Felt The total number of felt reports
CDI The maximum reported intensity for the event.
MMI The maximum estimated instrumental intensity for the event.
Alert Level The alert level from the PAGER earthquake impact scale. Green, Yellow, Orange or Red.
Review Status Indicates whether the event has been reviewed by a human.
Tsunami This flag is set to "1" for large events in oceanic regions and "0" otherwise. The existence or value of this flag does not indicate if a tsunami actually did or will exist.
SIG A number describing how significant the event is. Larger numbers indicate a more significant event.
Network The ID of a data contributor. Identifies the network considered to be the preferred source of information for this event.
Sources A comma-separated list of network contributors.
Number of Stations Used The total number of Number of seismic stations which reported P- and S-arrival times for this earthquake.
Horizontal Distance Horizontal distance from the epicenter to the nearest station (in degrees).
Root Mean Square sec The root-mean-square (RMS) travel time residual, in sec, using all weights.
Azimuthal Gap The largest azimuthal gap between azimuthally adjacent stations (in degrees).
Magnitude Type The method or algorithm used to calculate the preferred magnitude for the event.
Event Type Type of seismic event.
Event ID Id of event.
Event Code An identifying code assigned by, and unique from, the corresponding source for the event.
Event IDS A comma-separated list of event ids that are associated to an event.

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