Eathquakepocolypse

On Tuesday, August 23, 2011, a 5.9 earthquake hit the east coast and within minutes, and perhaps seconds, various social media platforms were abuzz with the chatter.  

From Facebook:

"I thought I was just imagining an earthquake until I just logged onto Facebook and everyone is talking about our earthquake!!!! I have never felt anything like that before!!!" Angela Roberts

"Freaking EARTHQUAKE!! We lost stuff off our top shelves and it scared the hell outta the cats! HOLY CRAP!!!!" Christopher Carothers

From Twitter:

"#BreakingNews: 5.8-magnitude #earthquake strikes #Virginia, with tremors felt along the east coast" @Foxnews

"Yup! We felt it here. RT @ariannahuff did you feel earthquake in ny? It started in richmondva! #nyc #earthquake" @Forbes

And my favorite:

"And right at 10 minutes for the earthquake to reach Epic Swarm status. That's absolutely insane. http://4sq.com/pH90eQ" @aboutfoursquare

Almost immediately a venue was created for Eathquakepocolypse.  Check-ins at this freshly created venue were quickly in the thousands, the fastest swarm in foursquare history. Dozens of photos were also being uploaded.

Visit Foursquare for more about the record-breaking stats.

What can we learn from this?  We are addicted to our social media.  Even in the face of a natural disaster we want our twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and everything else.  I would venture to say it helps us feel safe and comforted to still be able to connect, even if its with virtual strangers.  

It is important to note that minimal damage was reported in connection with this earthquake.