Virginia Earthquake Felt in Washington and New York

Evacuated workers

Residents in New York spoke about the quake which was caught on camera in Washington and at a media briefing in NYC. A magnitude-5.8 earthquake has rattled the east coast of the United States.
The quake centred on the state of Virginia but was felt in Washington, where the Pentagon and US Capitol were evacuated, as well as in New York.

The National Cathedral was damaged and the Washington Monument closed. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Federal officials said two nuclear reactors had been taken offline near the epicentre of the quake but that no damage had been reported. A total of 12 nuclear plants declared "unusual events" after the quake.

The quake struck some 84 miles (135km) from south-west of Washington, at a depth of 3.7 miles (6km), the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. Its epicentre was about 8km (five miles) from the town of Mineral, in the state of Virginia. An initial measurement of 5.8 was later upgraded to 5.9, but later amended back to 5.8 by the USGS.

The quake was one of the most powerful on the east coast of the US since 1897, according to USGS records, matching the strength of a tremor in the state of New York in 1944. Three aftershocks were recorded during Tuesday, the USGS said, the first two measuring 2.8 and 2.2. The third shock, at 20:04 local time (00:04 GMT on Wednesday), was a magnitude-4.8 tremor.

The main earthquake shook Washington DC for about 30 seconds at 13:51 on Monday (17:51 GMT), causing office buildings to sway and houses to shake.  The streets of the city filled with evacuated workers minutes after the quake, and police moved swiftly to cordon off key government institutions, restricting access to federal buildings on Capitol Hill. Television monitors and lights swayed for about 30 seconds as the quake rumbled away, and the mobile phone network showed intermittent service for some time afterwards.

Spires on the main tower of Washington's National Cathedral were damaged "When it started, it felt like someone was moving furniture next door," Peter Walker reported in Washington.  "Things began to shake even more and so everyone rushed out into the corridor.  "The alarm went off and the building was evacuated. After an hour we were all sent home. There are traffic jams all over the city. The metro is really crowded and so some people are walking or cycling home."

President Barack Obama, on vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, was briefed on the quake by his senior national security and emergency management staff, the White House said, but told that no emergency assistance had been requested.

Reports said the tremor was felt as far north as Boston, in North and South Carolina in the south, and as far west as Indianapolis and Detroit. In Charlottesville, Virginia. some 35 miles from the epicentre, resident Deb Godden said: "Our top floor apartment shook like crazy and there was a big roaring noise all around us. After that there was silence."

The AFP news agency said procedures put in place after the 9/11 attacks were activated in New York when the quake hit. Police guided people to local parks and away from tall buildings.