Virginia earthquake rattles East Coast

Washington;  The second most powerful earthquake in Virginia’s recorded history was felt Tuesday by millions on the East Coast and prompted evacuations of office buildings and the closing of monuments in the nation’s capital.

No major injuries or damage were immediately reported after the 5.8-magnitude earthquake, which struck about 40 miles northwest of Richmond. A surge in calls by cell-phone users affected service in many areas, federal officials said.

“It’s one of the largest that we’ve had there,” said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones.

Magnitude-2.8 and -2.2 aftershocks were recorded later in the afternoon, with others possible in coming weeks, officials said.

Most federal buildings in Washington had reopened by late Tuesday afternoon, but officials were taking all precautions before giving the all-clear to some of its most iconic structures.

A helicopter inspected the Washington Monument and it was found to be structurally sound, the National Park Service said. The grounds were being reopened late Tuesday afternoon, but not the plaza and monument itself.

U.S. Park Police spokesman David Schlosser said to his eye, the monument was “clearly not leaning. It’s standing tall and proud.”

The Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial may reopen later Tuesday.

A number of buildings were evacuated as far away as North Carolina and New York, witnesses reported.

The quake, which struck at 1:51 p.m., was shallow — just 3.7 miles deep — and was located 88 miles southwest of Washington near the town of Mineral, Virginia. The magnitude was initially reported as 5.8, then revised to 5.9, and then revised again back to 5.8.

Those unaccustomed to West Coast earthquakes were left wondering whether all that rumbling could have been caused by a truck, helicopter or some other force.

Kate Duddy was in an office building elevator in Manhattan, alone, when the shaking started.

“I have never felt a quake before. It was scary having no idea what the cause was,” she said. “I felt the vibrations and the elevator stopped for a period of about five minutes.”

Minor damage was reported in a few Virginia counties.

“We have received numerous calls for structural damage and collapse of residential structures,” Louisa County spokeswoman Amanda Reidelbach told CNN.

Desi Fleming, a resident of Mineral in Louisa County, said the quake arrived with a rumbling “that sounded like a train coming to a stop.” It knocked down two chimneys on the converted 1900-vintage home that now houses her parcel-shipping business.

Laura Southard of the state Emergency Operations Center said light structural damage was reported in Culpeper and Orange counties, but there had been no reports of injuries in the state.

The earthquake triggered the shutdown of a nearby nuclear power plant and the reporting of “unusual events” at 12 others across the East Coast and Michigan, U.S. authorities reported.

Dominion Virginia Power said both reactors at its North Anna plant, less than 20 miles from the epicenter, shut down after the first tremors. Reidelbach said the plant vented steam, but there was no release of radioactive material. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was monitoring the plant.

Tuesday’s incident occurred in a known seismic zone in central Virginia, said Dave Russ of the U.S. Geological Survey. But the strength of the earthquake was a bit surprising. A 5.9 event occurred in 1897 near Blacksburg, he said.

At Washington’s National Cathedral, spokesman Richard Weinberg said three 5- to 8-foot pinnacles had broken from the central tower. He said stone masons and engineers would assess the damage, which also included other pieces that broke and fell on the surrounding lawn.

The building was evacuated and closed to the public.

Wayne Clough, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, said the national museum’s landmark castle on the Mall had cracks in interior walls. There was no immediate indication of structural damage, but the 150-year-old building will need closer examination, he said.

“You want to do an inspection to be sure about that,” Clough said.

Clough, who’s also an earthquake engineer, said the geography of the Eastern Seaboard helped transmit the shock from the Carolinas to New England. The underlying bedrock is largely a solid sheet, “so you get a lot more travel out of earthquake waves than you would in California,” he said.

Court buildings in downtown New York were evacuated.

“I was trying to figure out what was going on, like everyone else,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who said he had been through many earthquakes when he lived in California.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at an afternoon news conference that the earthquake was felt “across the five boroughs” of the city, but there were no reports of injuries and “virtually no reports of damage.”

The quake was also reported to have been felt on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where President Barack Obama was playing golf.

The earthquake slowed but didn’t halt major transportation services.

Service at major airports throughout the region was disrupted, but all were reported to have resumed normal operations about 75 minutes after the earthquake struck.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark-Liberty International Airport, control towers were evacuated, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.

Amtrak said service between Washington and Baltimore was operating at reduced speed in the aftermath of the earthquake. An Amtrak statement warned travelers to expect delays.

Tish Walker, in Spotsylvania, Virginia, said she was spooked and staying outside for the moment.

“I used to live in California, so I know shaking and this felt big,” she said. “I grabbed my dog and raced outside; my first thought is always that the furnace might explode or a cabinet crashes down on top of us.”