'I think we just had an #earthquake in va, my house was shaking'
Twitter user NeimanMarcus757 is the first person to tweet using the #earthquake hashtag about today's 5.8-magnitude quake originating in the Mid-Atlantic region. He tweeted less than a minute after the quake started, which was 1:51:04 p.m. EDT.
Other people might have posted sooner, but NeimanMarcus757 used the hashtag, which gives him distinction of being first.
Social media played a huge role following the quake, with the Internet keeping people connected when cellular phone and data services could not. The first tweets about the quake reached New York before the earth shook.
There are so many wild reports coming in, they're best captured by reactions expressed in social media. But Twitter is surprising me, and that says something about the 140-character restriction. Many tweets are humorous -- making fun of the situation, and I wonder if that reflects more the narcissistic quality of tweeting or that the news reports are way overblown. I tend to think the former.
Paul Avarali (Twitter): "Overheard in the stairwell during office evacuation: the stairs? but i'm wearing RL Collection heels #earthquake".
JesseCFriedman (Twitter): "I saw the tweets from DC about earthquake, then 15 seconds later felt it in NYC. Social media is faster than seismic waves!"
Robert Scoble (Google+): "Wow, earthquake! Get ready for Facebook news in two minutes!"
Steve Williams (Twitter): "Apparently, the Washington Monument is now tilted. Italy is reportedly suing America for copying the idea from the Leaning Tower of Pisa".
To be clear, the National Parks Service later determined that the Washington Monument had not in fact titled. Be it's sure to be a social media meme.
Alex de Soto (Google+): "It's amazing how our cellular infrastructure buckles when there's an emergency. As usual, SMS is a good alternative when cellular networks are congested. Twitter was slow but awesome".
Bud Caddell (Twitter): "Lesson from the Earthquake, it doesn't matter the severity of the event, just how widespread it was felt".