Comets
Hyakutake (1996) and Hale-Bopp (1997) were re-oriented substantially by the
earthquake! Actually, it's just the framed photos on Eric's wall that were
disturbed! (Click on photo for a larger image.)At 10:54 AM PST on February 28, 2001 a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the Puget Sound region of Washington State. This was a deep earthquake that spread out its energy over a wide area, causing major damage in only a few isolated places where there were landslides, or where old brick buildings partially collapsed. The state capitol building and the governor's mansion in Olympia, Washington were both damaged. The event was very similar to a previous earthquake in 1949, and was certainly not unexpected although of course the exact timing always catches you by surprise.
Eric was in a newer Boeing office building which swayed significantly, but was not seriously damaged. There was also little damage at home except for a few crooked pictures (see photo), a few small objects knocked over, and a couple of frightened cats!
Comets
Hyakutake (1996) and Hale-Bopp (1997) were re-oriented substantially by the
earthquake! Actually, it's just the framed photos on Eric's wall that were
disturbed! (Click on photo for a larger image.)
This
picture shows the alignment of the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn at 9:13 PM on the
evening of February 28. Venus was also visible in the west earlier in the
evening. No one with any scientific credibility is blaming the earthquake
on the planetary alignment. Earthquakes are caused by a buildup of
stresses due to geological activity inside the earth, and even the tidal forces
caused by the moon would not likely change the timing of an earthquake by more
than a few hours or days (and even that is quite doubtful).
Click on the small image to see the full-size image with all of the following details: