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.
OMG!! It’s the rapture… It’s the end time… It’s God wrath… etc, etc, etc
Portugal here is a highly seismic area, however HUGE earthquakes occur only about 2 and a half centuries apart (the last one was in 1775 =8() We have daily quakes that aren’t felt, and in my life I only felt 2 or 3, one of which a 5.6 or so, very short, but enough to get your heart racing! The windows shake as do stuff on shelves… When I got home some stuff had fell from the higher shelves…. My cats were nice and quiet 🙂 Higher than that might be real scary. It’s actually my biggest fear – a huge earthquake like the one in 1775 that lasts for 11 minutes (!!!) and razes the whole country… That’s what happened here more than 250 years ago…
Observational science: I experienced 3 earthquakes of similar magnitudes in the past but from closer-by (40 miles away, 5.6, 5.7 and 5.9 mag’).
However, geology between Long Island and Virginia must be very different. 400 miles away, 10x further – yet this one felt stronger (all, including this one observed from 1 story buildings,…). Also, it was the longest earthquake I have experienced – started by 50-60 sec. of faster but weaker shaking (we were looking where is that big truck driving through small neighborhood) followed by another 30-40 seconds of slower frequency (2-3 times slower) but much more intense (10x+) side-to-side motion that pushed our bookcases to the limits (tugging them from the wall by the straps). Finally, another 30-40 seconds of weakest low frequency roll. So, in all 2+ minutes of shaking. Previous experiences were much simpler and shorter (but for one of them that included deep loud rumble, none of that in this case).
I never heard the earth rumbling, but know people in the south (Algarve, near the epicenter of most big quakes here) who claim they do, every now and then. Now THAT would creep me out!!!
Clearly God wants us to harness green energy and not oil nor nuclear (that’s nucilar for you republicans).
#18 Oh it was WELL known about all over the world where the fault was..
Bubba, and his girls, are in town!
Nothing like a little shakeup in Washington to show who’s in charge.
35. Actually, I believe it was Prez. Carter who first coined the term Nucular.
Jussayin’
#25 I don’t think they allow fracking in the region.
#31 Can’t be the rapture. All those believers you don’t like are still here having to put up with you. 8^) Besides if God decided to run in a early judgement day for the local Sodom I’d think the least he would do is throw in some fire and brimstone to go along with the shaking. No point in starting the job if you aren’t going to finish it.
And where was our fearless leader while our economy dwindles and we were hit by an earthquake? Golfing! Of course!
It was felt here in Pittsburgh. Some loose bricks fell from houses.
I was on the ground floor and didn’t feel it, but I heard it. It was felt on the second floor.
This is interesting:
http://nyti.ms/mXgRlk
How the quake was perceived compared to a similar quake in California.
My brother was taking a nap while contractors were outside renovating his driveway. He felt the house shaking and was convinced that the contractor had bumped the house with the bulldozer. He got up and ran outside and found the operator sitting on the dozer laughing. “Earthquake” the operator said.
My wife had just walked up to a clients door and inserted a key in the lock when the earth began to shake. She had unwittingly unlocked the forces of nature.
#42 And where was our fearless leader while our economy dwindles and we were hit by an earthquake? Golfing! Of course!
Not to mention Congress – on vacation or traveling to Europe at taxpayer expense.
China wants you to know they have HAARP technology as well.
I know allot of people are saying that an earthquake is no big deal, but you have to remember something. The buildings in this part of the country are not built to withstand an earthquake. This one was pretty mild, but a 6.5 or 7 in this area would be devastating.
I live about 25 miles from the epicenter. I was sitting at my computer. Suddenly the cat jumped up and ran to the bedroom, about 5 seconds later the rumbling started. I have been through quakes in California and turkey, but it still took about 5 seconds for me to register what was going one. I mean we just don’t get earthquakes here in Virginia. Anyway it lasted about 30 seconds, cracked some plaster on my ceiling, but other than that no major damage.
The electricity did flicker for a moment, but that was probably the North Anna nuke plants shutting down and the system rebalanceing.
Much more annoying is that the cell phones were clogged up for about 3 hours afterwards, couldn’t make a call or receive any. Internet was not effected.
In the end its probably a good thing. Relieves the plate pressure, so we don’t get a big one later.
The planet’s just shaking off some damn flees.
wasnt an earthquake that hit the pentagon, it was another “airliner” from 911, this one disappeared too with no much evidence left behind.
oh yeah and it was ‘Kaida’ who done did that earthen-maquaking machine stuff. now we must ban and/or tax electricity and physics.
hooray for banks whom art our saviors, let us pray they are able to milk us for generations to come, let us pray that no one unleashes zero point energy and let us pray that our oil based economy will prevail for years to come.
oh i almost forgot. Thank the lord for my smoking hot wife.
EARTHQUAKE WARS!
Candy ass east coasters. A 5.8 is a small snack, nothing to write home about.
I did LMAO a bit at the stories of people having a freakout and attempting to run out of buildings while the shaking was still happening. Retards, you’re not supposed to do that. I secretly hoped for reports of morons impaled by falling glass from buildings.
I felt it here in San Francisco today as well. Oh, wait. I didn’t.
Pussies.
I had something to do with the quake according to this loon. So don’t fuck with me or else.
http://youtu.be/zcaP6fnQGak
People on twitter might be joking, but in all seriousness, we would see a bigger boost in spending and hence economic growth if the earthquake had done more damage.
Paul Krugman
Or perhaps just someone mimicking Paul Krugman.
“♫ ♫ I’m all shook up! ♫ ♫”
Okay, over here on the “right” coast, we realize we may have to worry about this stuff. Recently they rebuilt the deck of a bridge over the Hudson river, and I heard it was seismically ‘hardened’ for just such a possibility.
If a Big One happens here (which is entirely possible in places like Boston, Hartford etc.), there probably will be tons of old brick structures and chimneys and dry-laid stone foundations collapsing.
If it does, we will try to run and stand under a doorway frame, just like you smug fuck-heads on the left coast have to.
“Earthquakes will become more and more frequent” – Nikola Tesla 1926
http://www.tfcbooks.com/tesla/1926-01-30.htm
fuck this