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. Robert

    Felt in Atlantic City N.J. 250 simultaneous jackpots. Jk abt jackpots def felt tremors tho

    August 23, 2011 at 5:27 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Entertained

    HA HA HA ! Great story.

    "STUPID WOMAN I WILL TRADE YOU FOR CAMELS! STOP SHAKING THE TABLE. I WILL BEAT YOU. ALLAH COMMANDS IT."

    August 23, 2011 at 5:29 pm | Report abuse |
  3. nish

    He should be around Gordonsville. I hope he's all right. Still can't reach him though.

    August 23, 2011 at 5:31 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Susan K

    Why has nothing been said about the earthquake that hit Colorado this morning??? According to CNN headlines, it is the largest to hit Colorado in 40 years. Two major earthquakes in the US in one day, but all you hear is about the one on the East Coast. Is there any correlation between the two quakes? Also, someone told me they heard there were other major quakes world-wide today!!! What about those? I think this story is so much larger than what hit Virginia, what about the rest of the quakes???

    August 23, 2011 at 5:31 pm | Report abuse |
    • USGS BREAKING NEWS

      No other relevant recent earthquake has struck in the rest of the world, and yes, CNN has covered the 5.3 Colorado earthquake which is historical, but the earthquake also struck in a very rural region where very few people felt it, in contrast to the Virginia one felt by thousands.

      August 23, 2011 at 5:36 pm | Report abuse |
  5. qbert

    A USGS scientist stated such. I trust them over, say, DHS.

    August 23, 2011 at 5:31 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Melinda

    I felt it in Gloucester, VA. I've never felt anything like it before. I told my husband it must be an earthquake. Very Scary!

    August 23, 2011 at 5:32 pm | Report abuse |
  7. The Mad Hatter

    Okay, whatever, wacko

    August 23, 2011 at 5:35 pm | Report abuse |
  8. David Alonso

    i felt it at UVA in Charlottesville Va. I was in class at the time. Suprised these old buildings didnt fall.

    August 23, 2011 at 5:41 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Mabus

    Ok Ok we have a 5.8 and so far people are reporting theyve felt it around a 800 mile radius lets get real here. oh and the tard that said he felt it in cali give me a break.

    August 23, 2011 at 5:49 pm | Report abuse |
    • USGS BREAKING NEWS

      This intraplate earthquake struck at an extreme shallow DEPTH of only 3.7 miles, get informed if you don't know about this matters.

      August 23, 2011 at 5:53 pm | Report abuse |
    • USGS BREAKING NEWS

      And yes, you're right about that guy having felt the earthquake at California, that's not possible, the quake can only be felt relatively close to the New Madrid fault and California is too far from there, that's also for the clown that said he felt it in Hawaii.

      August 23, 2011 at 5:57 pm | Report abuse |
    • John

      Mabus has been awarded the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award, the U.S. Army’s Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Martin Luther King Social Responsibility Award from the King Center in Atlanta, the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award, the King Abdul Aziz Award from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Mississippi Association of Educators’ Friend of Education Award.
      He is active in many community activities, primarily focusing on education. Following Hurricane Katrina, he founded the Help and Hope Foundation, which works to meet the needs of children affected by the storm.
      He is a former member of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy[25] and the Council on Foreign Relations, and is the Distinguished Lecturer on the Middle East at the University of Mississippi.
      As a photographer, his photographs have raised tens of thousands of dollars for various Mississippi charities.
      He has appeared on many television programs as an expert on the Middle East, including “60 Minutes” and “Nightline.”

      August 23, 2011 at 6:03 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Sarah

    Felt it in Pittsburgh, PA! I thought it was my boys wrestling for a second, but I realized they were playing with Lego. 🙂 The floor felt like it was rippling and the house was swaying back and forth. The wood was creaking and the chandelier in my dining room was swinging. Crazy!

    August 23, 2011 at 5:50 pm | Report abuse |
  11. VS

    i felt it in Churchville, PA 18966, which is 262 miles from the epicenter (according to the google map)... like someone shacked my bed for a min... i checked the clock: it was 1:54 PM and went outside to see what's going on... Nothing... i might got out of my mind? then i got all the info from my friends... Some of them can't connected me for an hour... T-Mobile's fault? :-)))

    August 23, 2011 at 5:50 pm | Report abuse |
  12. mike sparks

    I live here in fredericksburg va and the quake was something to feel the car dealership that i work at the big glass windows looked like they were waving at us ....

    August 23, 2011 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Dave

    I felt the earthquake form Obama Muslim Faith.
    I did not felt the earthquake.

    August 23, 2011 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Runningwolf

    That's right Susan..5.3..at the CO and NM border. 40 years its been..the only reason that CNN will not say anything about it because the Prez was not here and we don't have a national monument. Oh yeah..we have Pikes Peak..NORAD..USAFA..Ft Carson...nah nothing will be said.

    August 23, 2011 at 5:52 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Sorin

    This message was posted in leftie Globe & Mail (Canada) at 3:38 PM on Aug 21 and erased by GM. In the meantime a tornado hit Goderich, a place where I liked to go. What should happen to this G&M censors? On Aug 19, in Zawiya there were mass demonstrations pro Ghaddafi.
    Watch my clips on youtube – user firstconservative
    There is a lot of misinformation in North America main media (left or so called right). About God and “God is great”- give me a break! Rebels are using God, as so called Canadian conservatives used God to win elections. The non believers greens -sic- (aks Zandoli here) are supporting the Ghadaffi believers. Nowdays is hard to find an independent journalist to tell the truth. In Canada, we need Who is who in the media.

    lizzy phelan- misinformation about Tripoli, Aug 20, 2011

    “This makeshift and fluctuating army, which announces a victory every other day, has in fact been collecting defeat after defeat. Every battle recreates the same scenario, with each NATO bombardment forcing the population to flee their homes. Thus, the town is quickly run over by rebel forces who announce they have gained ground. Only then does the battle begin. The Libyan army enters the town and massacres the rebels. At that point, the population safely returns to the partially destroyed village…..[…].”

    http://rt.com/news/rebels-attack-tripoli-misinformation-795/

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26101

    http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2011/08/make-no-mistake-nato-committed-war-crimes-libya

    August 23, 2011 at 5:52 pm | Report abuse |
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