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. "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 Columbus, OH
I thought is my partner next to me in the cubby farting! Do earthquakes stink? If not, it was him.
Haha ... East Coast has nothing on us now !!
Felt shaking in my apartment in New Bedford, Ma for about 30 seconds
I love all the tools from out west picking on people who are understandably a bit shocked to have felt their first earthquake. Yeah, you live out by the San Andreas fault. Good for you – do you want a sticker? Why is this quake a big deal? Because most people who live on the East Coast have never even felt an earthquake. It was a shallow quake. But you know something else? A lot of buildings and structures on the east coast aren't designed with earthquakes in mind so yeah, we are pretty lucky there wasn't more damage. So to the one-upping d-bags who hear about natural disasters or events and say "ppchhh big deal, we have...": Retreat back to the locker room with your measuring tape and keep hoping for better results.
this is not the first East Coast earthquake. We've had mild quakes in CT for decades. there is a meeting of two tectonic plates in Southeastern CT; they gently shift from time to time.
Teeg – I didn't say it was the East Coast's first earthquake. I just said that most native East Coasters have never felt an earthquake. I live in Pittsburgh and we felt the quake today and absolutely no one I have talked to here has felt one before. All I am saying is that it is a bit startling for people who have never experienced it before.
IRS just announced the closure of its National Office in Washington, DC for the remainder of the day due to the earthquake.
i live in weston WV and the quake was pretty strong here
Walls shuddered here in Cooperstown NY. Unmistakable.
Felt it here at my cubicle at 30th St Station Philadelphia, PA. The building did sway and my tack board at my desk fell.
Thought at first I was having a dizzy spell. Every one evacuated the building.
The quake was felt in Hickory, NC. I was laying on my chaisse lounge in the living room when the chaisse lounge started to shake and I was skaken too but no damage. The apartment building actually was moving but all is well.
ok all you minions......back to work!!
Felt the shaking up here in Ontario..west of Ottawa.
Felt rather strongly in North Olmsted, Ohio, near Cleveland! Desk shaking and rattling for seconds! WOW!
Strong shake and loud rumbling for around 45 seconds in Charlottesville, VA
Wow, 594 pages & almost 10,000 comments within an hour that's amazing. It was felt too in central,CT. Whole building evacuated.