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 Ashburn VA – was on third floor at work and at first thought someone very large must be running up the next aisle, but then it got much worse. Must've been at least 30 seconds and with all the overheads shaking and whatnot it totally sounded like the building was coming apart. Got my ass in the car and went home.
Talk about earthquakes in various places (Matthew 24:7,8) Buck up people, these are only the beginning of sorrows.
Amen!
Earthquakes have been happening with regularity for millions of years.
The change in atmospheric weather, however, is completely due to humankind. Mostly due to greedy conservative Republicans.
Are you a Republican?
I felt it at work on the 5th floor of Nationwide Insurance in Dublin, Ohio. My son was talking to someone in Pennsylvania who felt it as well. She told my son that there must be a poltergeist in the room because the chairs were moving. My son said that 30 to 45 seconds later is when he felt it. (He works in the same building that I do).
Wow! I thought I was having a bad case of vertigo to begin with and then I could feel the building swaying to and fro. I thought to myself that the building was beginning to crumble and I got out of my seat to evacuate, but it ended at about that same time. SCARY!
"Suddenly I felt this light swaying of the Earth"
Interesting way of putting it, Mr. Poetry!
Felt the quake in Portland, ME.
lol.. "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." <– who cares if the president felt it, what is he going to do, outlaw earthquakes? declare earthquakes part of the axis of evil and attack the planet? i mean seriously, cnn you need some new writers
Anderson Cooper took a dump
Please! 5.9 magnitude earthquake seizing CNN? Get back to Libya, the real story of the day.
Don't see any of the national news folks mentioning that there is a major nuclear power plant in Bumpass Virginia next to Mineral VA at the epicenter of this quake. Just saying. Talking about bridges that need to be inspected. Perhaps a look see at the facility sitting on Lake Anna would also be in order.
Felt in Milford, CT
Felt the earthquake here in Pittsburgh, Pa. area! My apartment building shook, and things fell off of my shelves!!
Today the earthquake and later the Hurricane
Felt a slight tremor here at work at Camp Lejeune NC (outside of Jacksonville) NC.
Weird feeling. Chair, desk and floor moved.
Felt in NJ
Felt it here in Georgia, Vermont!!