Update at 2:15 p.m. ET: “It scared the heck out of me, I’m still shaking,” said Joan Morris, spokeswoman for the northern district of the Virginia Department of Transportation. A few minutes after the quake, there were no reports of damage to roads or bridges in the state, Morris said.
Update at 2:13 p.m. ET: The USGS now puts the magnitude of the quake at 5.9.
Update at 2:12 p.m. ET: The quake could be felt in McLean, Va., headquarters of USA TODAY. It caused the building to sway. Some items could be heard falling from shelves. A number of employees left the building.
Update at 2:10 p.m. ET: NBC reports that the quake was centered nine miles from Mineral, Va., which is 100 miles south of Washington, D.C.
Says Doug Kammerer, meteorologist with the NBC affiliate in Washington, calls the tremor a “very big earthquake for our area.” The quake struck around 1:15 p.m. ET and lasted for about 30 to 45 seconds. There have been no reports of injuries or widespread damage.
Update at 2p.m. ET: Reuters reports a 6.0 magnitude earthquake centered near Mineral, Va., rocked the mid-Atlantic states and was felt as far north at Manhattan and as far south as North Carolina.
Update at 1:57 p.m. ET:The Associated Press reports that the Pentagon is being evacuated.
Fox news reports that several public buildings, including the Capitol, have been evacuated.
lol people evacuated from where I work. Quite hilarious.
It looks like Tesla’s earthquake machine missed…
Hmm, I have to fly to D.C. for a meeting tomorrow. Hopefully this won’t affect anything.
Me and the wife were shaking on the couch up here on Long Island. Felt as though some one was shoving the house back and forth. First timers for an earthquake for us. Hopefully the last.
Felt it here in Raleigh, too.
Special kudos to whoever comes up with the best political/earthquake metaphor!
Quake. Hurricane Irene heading that way too… Cue religious nuts saying it’s the Lawrd making them pay for something in 3, 2, 1…
looks like Col Gaddafi just fired HAARP
Geologic karma.
My building in Arlington is closed until tomorrow at the earliest.
Strong vertical shaking, unlike the quake I experienced in Santa Monica in 98/98.
Took me a bit to get past this sentence,
“A number of employees went left the building.”
6.0 in DC, interesting. I’m curious when the damage report comes in, for scientific curiosity mind you.
Damn you Al Gore!
Also, when contacted on his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, President Obama is reported to have said, “huh?”.
(Shake, Shake, Shake)… Shake Your Booty !!
Well Well.. sounds like they were tuning the earthquake machine. Funny seeing earthquake reactions from Quake-noobs. But since I’m from California, I’d probably freak out over tornadoes and Hurricanes (yeah i know CA gets tornadoes too but not like the mid west)
Someone tweeted not to worry, that Standards and Poor downgraded the earthquake to 4.0
Mickey and Adam are in D.C. and OK.
Adam tweetered: AT&T, Verizon and TMobile all down in DC. #noServiceForYou!
Yippee! Now, the Obama re-election team can add another item to his growing bag of excuses.
As Axelrod said on Sunday: “”The president is going to outline a short-term plan to accelerate the economy, in the face of the hits we’ve taken, because of the Arab Spring and oil prices, because of the Japanese earthquake, because of Europe that have slowed down economic growth.”
How long before Obama blames the Virginia earthquake that “rocked the mid-Atlantic states and was felt as far north at Manhattan” on the expected 15 year Bear Market for stocks?
http://goo.gl/Ca0J5
Here is a tweet that Obama will undoubtedly use:
The quake occurred on a little known fault line outside of DC called “Bush’s Fault”
#18. Har! Good one.
While the Dems and Repubs are blaming each other for the tremors, the Tea Party is saying “Repent, the end is near”
Of course, it’s Obama’s fault; we never had an earthquake in DC under Bush.
When I first heard the rumblings while sitting at my pc, I thought it was as a result of a Bill Gate’s fault rather than an Earth’s fault. . Ha ha.
Nothing much happened as far as I can tell. No buildings collapsed, no bridges down. I am guessing a few broken bottles in liquor stores. But at least it’s something different to talk about.
The video is absolutely underwhelming.
Relatives and friends from back east won’t visit here in California because they are afraid of earthquakes. Looks like its about time to tear down my house, Romney Style, and build a bigger one. Course my view of the creek ain’t the Pacific Ocean, but we do what we can.
jbenson2 #18, PERFECT!
FRACKING
Living here in Baltimore and having survived a 5.9, I feel I can safely as that everyone in California is FULL OF CRAP!! Earthquakes aren’t so bad. Kind of pleasant, really.
Earthquake strikes east coast, women and minorities affected most.
The issue in DC is that maybe 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 have been in an earthquake. So, you are surrounded (literally) by noobs who don’t know what is happening nor what to do.
I told them what was happening, and left the building.
I thought somebody had hit my house with a car, or maybe a tree fell on the roof. When it kept going I figured it out.
The house made unhappy noises. So glad I wasn’t downtown today!
xjonx be careful what you wish for, a 7.9 is a bit different than a 5.9 …