1 Year Later. Buddhist monks offer prayers for victims of the disaster at Kitaizumi beach in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture on March 10, 2012. (Yuriko Nakao / Reuters)

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Click through for full.

[via: urlesque]

good:

All in a day’s work. Feel like repelling down the Washington Monument after lunch?

lookhigh:

Workers assess the earthquake damage to the Washington Monument, Sept. 28, 2011. (National Park Service)

WaPo: A dream job for engineer

The National Park Service said Monday that the Washington Monument will be closed indefinitely and that the 5.8-magnitude earthquake in August had done more damage to it than had been previously disclosed.

[WashPo]

Great Apes

• About three seconds before the quake, Mandara (a gorilla) let out a shriek and collected her baby, Kibibi, and moved to the top of the tree structure as well. 
• Iris (an orangutan) began “belch vocalizing”—an unhappy/upset noise normally reserved for extreme irritation—before the quake and continued this vocalization following the quake.

Small Mammals

• The red ruffed lemurs sounded an alarm call about 15 minutes before the quake and then again just after it occurred. 
• The howler monkeys sounded an alarm call just after the earthquake. 
• The black-and-rufous giant elephant shrew hid in his habitat and refused to come out for afternoon feeding.

Reptile Discovery Center

• All the snakes began writhing during the quake (copperheads, cotton mouth, false water cobra, etc.). Normally, they remain inactive during the day. 
• Murphy, the Zoo’s Komodo dragon, sought shelter inside.

Beavers

• Keepers were feeding the beavers and hooded mergansers (a species of duck) when the earthquake hit. The ducks immediately jumped into the pool. The beavers stopped eating, stood on their hind legs and looked around, then got into the water, too. They all stayed in the water. Within an hour, some of the beavers returned to land to continue eating.

Great Cats

• The lion pride was outside. They all stood still and faced the building, which rattled during the quake. All settled down within minutes. 
• Damai (a female Sumatran tiger) jumped at the start of the earthquake in a startled fashion. Her behavior returned to normal after the quake.

Bird House

• The Zoo has a flock of 64 flamingos. Just before the quake, the birds rushed about and grouped themselves together. They remained huddled during the quake.

Front Royal

• During the quake all Eld’s deer and tufted deer immediately ran out of the barns and appeared agitated. 
• The Prezwalski’s horses and scimitar-horned oryx hardly noticed although those that were inside did amble outside eventually. 
• Immediately after the quake the female Eld’s deer herd began alarm calling (a high staccato barking sound) until they were called by their keeper and subsequently all congregated in the corner of the pasture nearest the keeper for a short time.

Giant Pandas

• According to keepers, the giant pandas did not appear to respond to the earthquake. :)

(Source: nationalzoo.si.edu)

While Fox News may have falsely reported the Washington Monument was leaning to the right (Freudian slip?) - it does appear that the site did suffer damage.

According to the Washington Post, “the National Park Service says the Washington Monument may have suffered cracks near its top during Tuesday’s earthquake, and the monument could be closed indefinitely.” 

Until the final determination, the monument will remain closed.