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Epicenter Mystery Cache

Hidden : 11/27/2020
Difficulty:
4.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


At 2:00AM on September 9, 2020 I was jolted out of bed by a loud crash and large rumble.  Being 2020 and all, I immediately ran outside to see what unexpected fate was bestowed upon us. Was it fighter jets flying above us, a dump truck crash on route 9, alien invasion, the possibilities were endless. Turns out it was just a 3.1 Earthquake on the other side of town. Come on 2020, you can do better than that, even Jo.Cap slept through the whole thing!

 

This event wasn't not all that surprising, there have been three moderate earthquakes in the Freehold area over the last 50 years. This first one I remember was the 1979 quake; I was in grade school and my class had just lined up for lunch. I don't recall the 1992 Earthquake, but it did inspire my father to build a homemade seismograph. Of course, many people recall the large 5.1 Earthquake in Virginia on August 23, 2011. That epicenter was approximately 411km away, and will probably not help you solve this puzzle.

Anyway, at this point you should have realized this is a blue question-mark cache, which means the cache is not at the posted coordinates.  Those will lead you to a sign for the EpiCenter shopping center which was previously called the Manalapan Mall.  The cache is within 2 miles of the posted coordinates, and while it is not wheelchair accessible, it is a very short walk from the closest parking. 

Your task

You will need to do some research to find the epicenter of the three Central Jersey earthquakes below and then using the "Distance to cache GZ", calculate the intersection of these three circles.

Date/Time Magnatude Location Distance to cache GZ
Wednesday, September 9, 2020, 2:00 AM 3.1 2 km from East Freehold 5.675km
Thursday, January 9, 1992, 3:50 AM 3.1 4 km from Robertsville 8.5697km
Tuesday, January 30, 1979, 11:30 AM 3.5 1.2 km from Marlboro 4.305km

 

 



You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.

Central Jersey Geocaching

This cache is certified Central Jersey!
Dog Friendly Geo Toolbox  Central Jersey Certified

 

 

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[Puzzle]Gehfg gur .tbi [Cache]Unatvat oruvaq gur gerr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)