Earthquake 2011 a Shock in Broadneck

Some were in their homes, others in schools, and still others on the road, but all Broadneck residents will be remembering the day of Aug. 23, 2011 for a long time. 

A short time before 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the Broadneck area, along with all of the Mid-Atlantic region and much of the Northeast U.S. experienced an earthquake that measured 5.8 on the Richter scale, the largest in the area since 1897. 

A rumbling soon became a terrifying ordeal for many inside their homes, offices, and school buildings.

On the Broadneck Patch Facebook page, local resident Kim Lynch said her whole family was affected. “I was sitting on my deck watching the kids swim when I felt my whole deck start to shake,” she recalled. “Movement of the water didn't seem just to come from kids getting out of the pool in a panic!”

Melinda Grady said she was visiting a resident at Futurecare on College Parkway when the quake struck. “The whole building shook like crazy!” she said.

Others were on the road. “I was driving down College Parkway across from and thought my car was breaking down until I started to see all the other cars shaking as well,” said Kristine Bennett. “We got to Rite Aid and some of their ceiling tiles fell and all the aisles had merchandise all over the floor.”

Over at AACC, classes took a unique turn. “My husband was at AACC and said the walls of the room he was in moved like Jello," said Nancy Greer. The college was closed shortly after for the entire day, allowing officials to assess structural damage. AACC will open for all classes on Wednesday.

For local sixth grade students, getting a firsthand look at middle school was certainly memorable. With an evacuation (due to lack of water pressure) in the morning and then an evacuation in the afternoon (where students weren’t even allowed to go back in the building for their things), the day wasn’t the calm experience school officials had hoped.

Later Tuesday evening, Anne Arundel County Public Schools sent out a message to parents and staff saying, “Since this afternoon, principals, administrators, and school facilities personnel have been inspecting schools for evidence of damage. Thus far, we have found no significant damage. While there may be isolated areas temporarily off limits to students tomorrow, all Anne Arundel County Public Schools will open on time tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24.”

Commuters were faced with a challenge to get back home after Metro, MARC trains, and Amtrak had to reduce service so that inspectors could evaluate damage done to tracks along the Northeast Corridor.

Crews from the Maryland Transportation Authority were busily inspecting all bridges and roads across the state. According to an MTA press release Tuesday afternoon, crews have also visually inspected traffic signal poles, light poles, overhead sign structures and utilities with no damage reported.”

As the shock of the quake begins to wear off, Broadneck residents have the potential to experience yet another natural event to wreak havoc this weekend.

, with projections of hitting our area on Sunday into Monday. Keep logging on to Broadneck Patch for updates on this developing story and for tips to adequately prepare for the potential of this storm.