Strong earthquake strikes US East Coast; felt up to NY, Washington

Washington: A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia forced evacuations of all the monuments in Washington and rattled nerves from the southern state of Georgia to Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island in the northeast where President Barack Obama is vacationing. No injuries were immediately reported. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile (800 meters) deep and centered about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Richmond, the state capital of Virginia. The extent of the damage near the epicenter of the earthquake was not immediately clear, and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said all resources of the state have been put on alert to assist in any way necessary. “All indications are that emergency response plans and orderly evacuations have gone well today, and I thank all involved,” he said. At Louisa High School, not far from the epicenter, six students and one staff member were injured. One of them, a teacher, suffered minor injuries when a bookcase toppled over onto her. It was not immediately clear how the students were injured. [caption id=“attachment_67782” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=" People gather outside an evacuated Manhattan courthouse after an earthquake rattled the city. AFP"] [/caption] Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in the same county as the epicenter were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The power plant is being from four emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment. Hannah said the agency was not immediately aware of any damage at nuclear power plants in the Southeast. Obama and many of the nation’s leaders were out of town on August vacation when the quake struck at 1:51 pm. The shaking was felt on the Martha’s Vineyard golf course as Obama was just starting a round. At the Pentagon in northern Virginia, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building was shaking. People ran into the corridors of the government’s biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of “Evacuate! Evacuate!” The US Park Service evacuated and closed all National Mall monuments and memorials. At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. Authorities announced it was an earthquake and all flights were put on hold. In New York, the 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building. Court officers were not letting people back in. The quake came a day after an earthquake in Colorado toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico. No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday. In Charleston, West Virginia, hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily. “The whole building shook,” said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. “You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own.” Watch the aftermath of the earthquake in Virginia