An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 struck Tuesday afternoon near Washington, D.C., the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The epicenter was in Mineral, Virginia. The quake was four miles deep, according to the USGS. Did you feel it? Send CNN an iReport.
To get complete coverage and all the latest updates, click on CNN's main story here. View a CNN Open Story about the quake. CNN Open Story combines iReports with reports from CNNers across the globe on a map and timeline.
Update 3:36 p.m. ET: Terminal A at Washington Reagan National Airport has been evacuated because of an odor of gas, airport spokeswoman Courtney Mickalonis said. Initial sweeps of the building showed no major damage from the earthquake.
Light structural damage has been reported in Culpepper and Orange counties in Virginia, said Laura Southard of the state Emergency Operations Center. She said there have been no reports of injuries in Virginia.
Update 3:28 p.m. ET: The White House and adjacent buildings evacuated as a precaution following the earthquake have been given the all-clear, the U.S. Secret Service said. The FBI and Justice Department have also reopened evacuated buildings.
Update 3:25 p.m. ET: East Coast residents should be prepared to feel aftershocks from Tuesday's earthquake, a U.S. Geological Survey official said.
Update 3:22 p.m. ET: The North Anna nuclear power plant, located 20 miles from the epicenter, is shut down and in a safe condition, a company official and the Louisa County public information office report. There has been no release of nuclear material, Louisa County spokeswoman Amanda Reidelbach said.
Update 3:04 p.m. ET: All national monuments and parks in Washington are "stable but closed" following Tuesday's earthquake, a United States Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser said. A couple of minor injuries and some minor structural damage have been reported in Washington, following Tuesday's earthquake, according to Schlosser.
Part of the central tower of the National Cathedral, the highest point in Washington, was damaged, according to spokesman Richard Weinberg. "It looks like three of the pinnacles have broken off the central tower," Weinberg told CNN.
Update 3:02 p.m. ET: Amtrak is reporting service disruptions between Washington and Baltimore because of the earthquake, the company reported on Twitter.
Aftershocks are a concern, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones told CNN. "People should be expecting (them), especially over the next hour or two," she said.
The quake was felt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York City and on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where President Barack Obama is vacationing. It's unknown if the president felt the quake.
The Pentagon has been evacuated, CNN's Barbara Starr reports. "When the building began shaking rather violently, hundreds of people began streaming out," she said, because many people thought that the building was under attack. Starr was standing in the Pentagon's press office when the roof started to shake.
Cell phone service has been disrupted in New York City, CNN learned within minutes of the quake.
Updated 2:47 p.m. ET: A "considerable amount" of water from a water pipe has flooded two corridors of the Pentagon, according to an announcement in the building. People who work in those areas are being asked to stay in their offices while workers try to repair the damage.
The National Cathedral in Washington is damaged, CNN has confirmed.
And Dominion Generation, which operates the North Anna nuclear power station in central Virginia a few miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, is trying to reach operational staff at the plant, according to a company spokesman. Landlines to the plant appear to be down.
Shortly after the quake struck, traders in the New York Stock Exchange also felt the quake and shouted to each other, "Keep trading!" CNN's business correspondent Alison Kosik reported from the floor at 2:20 p.m. E.T.
Twitter traffic suggests the quake was felt all over the East Coast.
In Philadelphia, HunterPence3 tweeted, "Wow Earthquake just shook the entire locker room!"
In Cleveland, "tribeinsider" wrote "I'm no expert but i think we just had an earthquake here."
And even in Toronto, Canada, tweets said that the shaking could be felt for minutes.
Pete Krech, who works at a business in Fredericksburg, Virginia, likened the sensation to being on a jolting amusement ride. "I was receiving a supply truck," said Krech, store manager at Mattress Warehouse of Fredericksburg, south of Washington. "I felt a vibration under my feet."
Brendan Wein, a sales representative at Hoffman Nursery in Roxboro, North Carolina, said he thought there was a helicopter flying above his work building.Ā "I was literally shaking in my chair," he said.
CNN iReporter Jeff Yapalater said he was in his backyard in New York's Long Island when the earthquake hit. "Suddenly I felt this light swaying of the Earth. I'd never felt that before, so I thought maybe I was experiencing vertigo for a moment, and it lasted maybe 30 seconds ... We're feeling this really far away!" he wrote.
Felt it in Pilgrim Knob, Virginia around 2:30
I felt it in Seattle!
Having been raised in SF, you'd think I'd be used to it... who would think here in Potomac, MD
yeah true we felt the earthquake in lynchburg... all of us ran out of our apartments.... the table and windows everything ... vibrated for seconds... after sometime we went back to our houses.... the vibration was terrible....
I'm in Charlotte, NC...was sitting with friends out by in-ground pool. Pool water started to vibrate, soda cans in machine behind me started to rattle. Brothers truck started shaking, hanging plants were swaying, lounge chairs shook. Cell phone line are down. Shaking was mild, that those standing or moving did not feel it. however everyone sitting did. No damage to report.
Felt in Buffalo, NY
iuse to live in Philly, I think the worse we got was a 3.8 so, that was substantial for that area and buildings in the PA, MA, VA and DC area are not built for that kind of disturbance. I forget what the fault along the mountain ranges there are called.
all the phones are down
I was at the pool with my friends and we felt the ground start to shake. We hit the deck and yelled EARTH QUAKE!!! Then the lifeguards came running and asked "Did you guys feel that?" We live in Gainesville VA. We only felt a small tremor but others near us felt much more of a tremor.
I felt it in NYC ~ Queens. The whole floor shook. Both of our laptops shook. Our dog was sleeping and jumped out of her bed. My first thought was a earthquake, NOT a terrorist attack, remember that THEY are watching us and laughing at all of us. Let's not give ANY credit to a this being a terrorist attack, as the media is stating. I shut the TV as soon as I heard this. LET'S NOT LIVE IN FEAR ~ THEY WILL NOT GET US AGAIN. BELIEVE THAT PLEASE!!!!!!
Felt the earthquake in St Marys County Maryland about 60 miles south of Washington DC. House was shaking and the cars in the driveway were rocking. Never felt an earthquake before, but knew right away what was going on. Have lived here for 38 years and never heard of earthquakes happening here.
I felt it in Carlisle, PA, about 30 secs, felt like on a dock at lake, no damage.
We did not feel it in Oklahoma City. š
We felt it in downtown Boston. I'm pretty sure it's the work of HAARP
We felt it at NC State University! (Raleigh, NC) We thought the building was going to fall!