[market58]

I was unable to send text messages, I kept getting a general error. So I switched to BBM and no problem. I was able to contact my wife and children to check on them. I also had to send an important email to someone in New York, (who at the time did not believe we had an earthquake) and it went flawlessly.
Thanks Blackberry.......that's why you're in my pocket!

[padamssm]

it's cute how you east coasters think that was a big earthquake

I lived 17 years outside of San Francisco and returned to Washington, DC, 10 years ago. I was there for the SF Bay Bridge collapse. Believe me when I tell you this East Coast earthquake was strong, and was more like being grabbed & shaken than the rolling earthquakes in CA. It started with a loud rumble that sounded like huge trucks driving next to the house. My house really shook and a huge painting that was bolted to the wall came down. I was impressed! My BB kept going.

[qbnkelt]

I've always talked about how BB is phone of choice in the rescue teams I've been involved with. But I was discounted as a fangirl.
Well....here is evidence of a large scale event where other platforms failed and BBM and emails on BB remained strong. Guess they will still discount me as a fangirl.
All those who were able to get through to loved ones and all those loved ones who received messages from those of us who were in the middle of the events know the value of BBM. No fanboy/fangirl in sight.
No other platforms worked. BB did. Enough for me. AND for the federal government which had the means to communicate during a crisis in the Capital.
And for all those who will say "Oh, that never happens to me!!!!" think about how many times event happen that we didn't plan. Certainly, Washington DC is not earthquake country. The unexpected happens. BB worked when nothing else did.

[qbnkelt]

it's cute how you east coasters think that was a big earthquake

It wasn't for the West Coast. It was simply moderate. But for the East Coast, with buildings not designed for earthquakes, it was significant. Add to that its proximity to 9/11 in the middle of DC and you can understand that those of us who were in tall office buildings that are targets would be more than a bit concerned. The only reason I got my team out the door first was because of training and because I'd lived in the West coast.
People were standing with deer in headlight looks. Thjis was new to everyone in DC. And the building did rock quite a lot. Books fell.

[stackberry369]

Wait for the day a Category 5 hurricane hits california and see if you joke about the east coast then.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Buzz_Dengue]

Wait for the day a Category 5 hurricane hits california and see if you joke about the east coast then.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

... California, west coast, would be a "typhoon"...
and I agree with your point.

[houshinto#IM]

Goes to show the importance and benefits of RIM's secure/reliable communication networks. Sure I don't get the fastest loading of webpages but I prefer having a communication lifeline any day.

[Umm Yeah]

Umm, I hate to burst any bubbles but yesterday, I was at work with my Tour 9630 here in DC and when the earthquake hit, I immediately began texting family and friends. It worked like a charm. Of course, so did my wife's Windows Phone 7. She even received an email that she forwarded on to me within a half hour of the quake. This can be done on ANY phone with texting. I don't tend to use BBM because I have too many friends and family who don't have BBs and texting works fine 99% of the time.

It doesn't have the delivery notices, that's true, and it might not be instantaneous in every case but it is universal and for me, that trumps BBM. I know many of you live and die by BBM, but it's a restrictive platform that wouldn't allow me to contact my wife, daughter, brother, sister, or father yesterday.

[Rootbrian]

Umm, I hate to burst any bubbles but yesterday, I was at work with my Tour 9630 here in DC and when the earthquake hit, I immediately began texting family and friends. It worked like a charm. Of course, so did my wife's Windows Phone 7. She even received an email that she forwarded on to me within a half hour of the quake. This can be done on ANY phone with texting. I don't tend to use BBM because I have too many friends and family who don't have BBs and texting works fine 99% of the time.

It doesn't have the delivery notices, that's true, and it might not be instantaneous in every case but it is universal and for me, that trumps BBM. I know many of you live and die by BBM, but it's a restrictive platform that wouldn't allow me to contact my wife, daughter, brother, sister, or father yesterday.

Add their phone numbers to BBM and sms can be used that way too. I do it with the contacts that don't have blackberry devices.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jonathon.94]

Add their phone numbers to BBM and sms can be used that way too. I do it with the contacts that don't have blackberry devices.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

It is still SMS..just a different app. Basically no different then using Crunchsms to text.

[Revord]

Oh, don't bust me up with your little 5.8 shaker. Get back to me when you ride something above a 7. My personal best was a 7.3...

J/K, it can be traumatic, especially if you've never been through one. And if you get an after shock or two, the short-term PTSD kicks in and you freak out when a big truck rolls by or a cart down the hallway or anything shaky happens.

BBs are very versatile. We can even PIN message each other when our BES is down...

Yeah, I rode out the 6.8 Nisqually quake here in the Northwest 10 years ago. Working in a commercial zone, the roads were always packed with semis and other large trucks, and I can attest that PTSD is in full force at least for a couple of days.

[qbnkelt]

Funny thing was that none of the people around me with non BB devices were able to text anyone. Two closest to me, members of my team with small children, were unable to text or call.

One of them came up with a solution - BBM her ex husband on her government BB, and he was then able to pick up the kids.

*No one* around me with a non BB phone was getting any text out. All of us with BB were informing them when, where, magnitude, etc.

[cur1ouscat]

yes, during the great japan quake and tsunami on march this yr, a message from my daughter thru her bb saved the day. all her other friends used the iphone and nothing was getting thru, no calls, no yahoo mail etc, just bb mssgr and bb mail. we immediately notified all her other friends parents that the kids were held at the school compound and managed to house a few at our house.

[9of13]

i woke up to my bed shaking. wasnt that much to me. Ive riden subways that shake more LOL. Now as far as BBs, I didnt know there was a problem with cell service till i saw it on the news. My BB was flawless. Calls and texts too!

[jwsnj3rd]

Craig from crackberry put a post a while ago about what happened to him ,on 9-11 and he was able to contact people when the phones didnt work either. his blackberry kept him connected to people when other phones where unable to work.

[lauyerman]

One of Blackberry's main pillars, reliability, is why I use a Blackberry. It's great to see a real-world example of why Blackberries are (unlike some other phones) useful tools, not toys.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I'm adding this as another explanation on why I'm making the switch from iPhone back to BB

[sunny8987]

It's not a big earthquake??

[BergerKing]

This article explains why the earthquake, despite just being a 5.8, was felt all over the East Coast: Why are East Coast earthquakes so widely felt? - CBS News

In actuality, it's overall result may have been equivalent to a 7.0 in the West Coast.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Waits for the inevitable Earthquake Translation Index. Call it the Sphincter Scale, defined by how many people in California would yawn vs. East of the Rockies where a proportional number would soil their pants.

Seriously, though, the stories of people trying to communicate during a critical time and not being able to is one f the reasons I choose the .

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Mr Bigs]

it's cute how you east coasters think that was a big earthquake

You West Coasters are just a few quakes away from sliding into the water and still choose to stay.

[csickgrind]

Lol arguing about earth quakes..

Sent from my BlackBerry 8530 using Tapatalk

[avt123]

My phone worked before, durring and after the quake. I was actually sending IMs as my house started to rumble. After that I called tons of people and texted even more and everything went through.

[Umm Yeah]

Craig from crackberry put a post a while ago about what happened to him ,on 9-11 and he was able to contact people when the phones didnt work either. his blackberry kept him connected to people when other phones where unable to work.

Correct if I'm wrong (and I'm sure many people on here will!), but back on 2001, BBs were still sent out their messages using the old school pager network, not the cellular phone network. When they shifted away from using the pager network, they lost that advantage. They gained several others, of course, but I recall reading about the change not long after 9/11 and analysts saying that if BB were on the cellular networks then, they would have faced the same issues.

From Wikipedia:

The first BlackBerry device, the 850, was introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager in Munich, Germany. In 2003, the more commonly known smartphone BlackBerry was released, which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, Web browsing and other wireless information services. It is an example of a convergent device. The original BlackBerry devices, the RIM 850 and 857, used the DataTac network.

[anon(4018671)]

Correct if I'm wrong (and I'm sure many people on here will!), but back on 2001, BBs were still sent out their messages using the old school pager network, not the cellular phone network. When they shifted away from using the pager network, they lost that advantage. They gained several others, of course, but I recall reading about the change not long after 9/11 and analysts saying that if BB were on the cellular networks then, they would have faced the same issues.

From Wikipedia:

I don't care how they do it really I'm just glad a BB is the last man standing. It must be terrible feeling wanting to contact your family while watching others do just that in an emergency.

[Mr Bigs]

Umm people also forget that during 9/11 Nextels were the only phones working. If I remember correctly the two way worked and the phone,the phone was jammed up a little but the two way worked steadily.

[qbnkelt]

My phone worked before, durring and after the quake. I was actually sending IMs as my house started to rumble. After that I called tons of people and texted even more and everything went through.

avt.....were you in downtown DC when the quake hit? I was right smack in the middle of the city. It was felt in NY, but the epicenter being 84 miles away in SW VA meant that DC took a nearly direct hit.