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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.
soundoff (12,567 Responses)
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Now it's "our 5.8 (been downgraded) earthquake is worse than your earthquake." I have a flash for you East Coasters, a 5.8 is a 5.8 no matter which coast you are on. I was in San Diego during 7.0 and those on the hard rock mountians claimed they didn't feel it as much as those on the rolling silt and softer ground. The East Coast is trying to say because they are on solid rock they feel it worse. Sorry, a 5.8 is a 5.8.
The Chesterfield County circle jerk has been postponed due to the earthquake.
I felt my bed shake 2 times here in Chicago.I thought it was my kid playing around.But after i got up i could not figure it out. Thats a first for me.
Felt it here in upstate NY finger lakes region. Was sitting on couch on pc working on an assignment. Felt like my couch was shaking. I couldn't understand what was causing it so I chalked it up to a dizzy spell from being on PC too long. Later I found out it was earthquake.
My brother works in the heart of DC for a hazmat company. Sometimes he does underground jobs so I was concerned but luckily we were able to get into contact with him and everyone is fine.
A friend of mine was at her cottage on Keuka lake in Hammondsport, NY on her dock and watched her cottage shake, they thought the place was coming down. Crazy that it traveled so far. Hope everyone is safe and okay.
Felt it on Mars
We felt it in Hawaii. Everyone in my neighborhood ran outside screaming. I am serious I reall am..
Hawaii isn't in the New Madrid seismic zone, stay ignorant if you want.
Felt it in Exton, PA
did an earthquake happen or something?
Near Charlottesville, eh? I wonder what Thomas Jefferson is up to down there....
LOL Run sheep run....
No fears people...I will fly in with my super powers & save the day.
Now how can we blame this on Al Qaeda?
Folks – This was a non-event in my book. You people on the east coast don't know the meaning of the word – Earthquake. Come on out to Los Angeles, CA or San Francisco, CA sometime. lol...A 5.9?? You call that an earthquake??
Maybe it would be considered NOTHING, if it were in CA, but on the EastCoast, it's a VERY RARE occurance, so, it is SOMETHING!
Intraplate earthquakes aren't like California ones, it also depends a lot on DEPTH, get informed please.
5.9 would be considered a serious earthquake in CA if it were near a population center! It could definitely cause serious damages in an urban area. It all depends on how far/deep it is from a major city.
So East Coasters, if we had a gigantic snowstorm or F5 tornado in CA and it was ALL OVER CNN, would you be saying the same thing West Coasters are?? Maybe, but no you wouldn't because it wouldn't make more than the local/regional news outlets. I think that is the point of many West Coasters on this thread, or mine anyway.
So...Liberals don't believe in God, Allah, Yahweh, Buddah, etc. Helps explain why they are so eff'd up.
and your belief explains why you are.
Felt in Towanda Pa
Felt it in Texas!