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. Alison

    Mama grizzly could probably see the earthquake from her front porch.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  2. pop

    GOD IS ANGRY at greedy people

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Marilyn Gordon

    I live in Niles, Michigan just 8 miles north of South Bend, Ind. and felt two small tremors for the earthquake on the east coast. My grandaught lives about 5 miles from me and she also felt it.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Caroliine

    What's the earth quake done to the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel? Is IT still safe to travel through?

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Raleigh NC Area

    Finally a post where everyone stays on topic and didnt turn this into some type of political debate.

    I didnt feel it in Raleigh NC but a friend in Durham NC said they felt it.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Pamela Bryant

    Felt it here in Glen Allen, Va. I'm about 25-30 miles from the epicenter. I pray there are no aftershocks or that this was the warm up for a bigger earthquake! Wherever you are, be safe, may God bless you!!! (news just confirmed we have had 2 aftershocks so far) 🙁

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  7. GCDb

    Big whoop. A little earthquake on the East Coast gets a "Breaking News" headline. We get one up here in Alaska and no one hears about it. You guys will be fine.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
    • USGS BREAKING NEWS

      Intraplate earthquakes like this one aren't like Alaska earthquakes, and this was no "little earthquake" with a depth of only 4 miles.

      August 23, 2011 at 4:31 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Adam

    Why does CNN have such di-regard for the Colorado eatrhquake? Is it because CNN doesnt think there are inportnat people living in Colorado. What about there welfare and isssues? Virginia and DC are not the most important people in the US. Im disgusted in the coverage, or lack of.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
    • USGS BREAKING NEWS

      You're probably right, but the Colorado 5.3 affected regions which are more rural and isolated than the East Coast, hence the reaction has been major because more people felt this one.

      August 23, 2011 at 4:34 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Kristen

    dad? is that you??

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  10. BETH

    MY HUSBAND AND I WERE SITTING IN OUR LIVING ROOM WHEN THE CHAIRS WE WERE SITTING IN BEGAN TO SHAKE. I GOT UP AND SAID " I THINK WE ARE HAVING A EARTHQUAKE. CROCKETT, V.A.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  11. becky

    God is not pleased with the politician crooks of this nation squeezing out the middle class and the poor. Pay attention to the sign of the times.....earthquakes in unusual places, tornadoes/massive destruction, hurricanes, droughts, lightning strikes, floods, sink holes, power outages, black outs.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  12. fred

    Earthquake? What earthquake?

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  13. S.Robinson

    CNN WHY NO COVERAGE NOR MENTION OF THE QUAKES IN COLORADO AND MEXICO ALSO??? U SEE NO CONNECTION RIGHT??Again giving the people ONLY what u want 'em to know...never the WHOLE TRUTH...

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
    • USGS BREAKING NEWS

      There is no recent earthquake for Mexico, nothing noticiable than a 2.0 or greater today.

      August 23, 2011 at 4:36 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Leslie Crawford

    I was lying on my couch after 1pm today. As I started feeling trembles, I looked over to a glass with soda sitting on a coffee table and noticed the soda was moving in the glass. I looked down to see if the coffee table was touching the couch and thought for a split second that it could be my heartbeat, but realized I was wrong. I was freaking out for a while because I thought that there was something wrong with the foundation our house sits on. I reside in North Atlanta, never thought that it could be an earthquake. When my daughter walked in the house at 2:30, I mentioned the tremors felt to her.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:28 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Imogen

    I wonder if it really matters whether or not the president felt it. Maybe CNN should learn to capitalize the word President.

    August 23, 2011 at 4:29 pm | Report abuse |
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