August 23rd, 2011
04:06 PM ET

Earthquake shuts down Virginia nuclear plant

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.

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Filed under: District of Columbia • Earthquake • Natural Disasters • Virginia
soundoff (12,567 Responses)
  1. Mageen

    First earthquake that I didn't sleep through! I was about 4 or 5 when one hit in the night while we visited a beautiful little town in Ontario within shooting distance of the Laurentians. This quake was enough to misalign fences, make gates and doors very difficult to shut if they were open or open if otherwise, cause some cracks in the streets, wake up the livestock and send people running outside. My sister and I were left in our youth beds. Never could get a good reason about that out of my parents. There was also an old story afloat that the local police chief went flying out of bed when that bed started rolling across the room. He grabbed his holster, slapped it on and ran out to his cruiser. It was only after he turned the engine on that he remembered he slept commando.

    There was an extremely quick earth-shift in my current area a few years ago that demonstrated itself with a bang but no movement. It wasn't even worth remembering even though it occurred during office hours.

    This one was enough to guarantee that I was the first one out the door!

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Donna Lynn

    I felt it in Poconos PA. I thought it was a Military Air Craft, or somethiing! Wasn't sure. But my WHOLE HOUSE shook and it was like rollingthunder but from the Gorund up! The glass on my china cabinet rattled! My 2 dogs came to me and got really close looking confused!!!

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Amanda

    blacksburg va. well i just found out about the quake. my roommate felt it but i slept through it...

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Maree

    Felt in South Jersey @ 157PM

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  5. pmn

    Good one!

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Crowded

    Here in the north central area of NC, 30 miles north of Raleigh, big tremor here, they closed my work building for awhile. Short, but intense.

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  7. stevie ray barrett

    i live in baltimore,maryland i feel it and it all my stuff fall down

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Joe Treacy

    Felt it in Hartford CT JoeT

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  9. liar

    Oh wait that was my wife hitting me over the head with a frying pan

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Kelly Mcgee

    Felt it shake Shillington Pa !

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  11. USGS BREAKING NEWS

    Tremors were felt as far away as Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Ontario, Canada.

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  12. J

    I do not understand lot of reporting from all over BUT from Baltimore the largest city near DC and none from Richmond but all about NYC why? seems your reporting is like usual biase

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
    • Amanda H

      probably because minor earthquakes have happened in that area ( the last one being in 2010). But no one has felt such in Manhattan/NYC

      August 23, 2011 at 3:35 pm | Report abuse |
  13. phyl

    some have felt it here in ohio

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Tim Liao

    Did this guy really say a 5.8 would bring buildings down in California. Are you for real?

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
    • USGS BREAKING NEWS

      Depends on the depth of the earthquake, get informed before commenting about this matters.

      August 23, 2011 at 3:37 pm | Report abuse |
    • Tim Liao

      If 5.8 would bring down buildings in California that buildings are built to withstand earthquakes wouldn't 5.8 have brought buildings in the East Coast

      August 23, 2011 at 3:39 pm | Report abuse |
    • Tim Liao

      You're are the one uniformed and irrational. Again, why would a 5.8 bring buildings down in heavily earthquake prone California where buildings are built for earthquakes and not do damage to buildings in the East coast where buildings are not built for earthquakes. Prove to me an earthquake between 5.3 or 5.8 has brought down a building California in the last fifty years.

      August 23, 2011 at 3:43 pm | Report abuse |
  15. LuisWu

    Yes, I'll have a quarter pounder and a large shake...

    August 23, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
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