East Coast Earthquake

From Yahoo News:
"Rare strong quake rattles East Coast"

A strong earthquake rattled the East Coast on Tuesday, sending tremors as far as Canada, shaking the nation's capital and scaring thousands of office workers who fled onto the streets. There were no reports of major damage or injuries from the 5.8 magnitude quake, which was centered in Mineral, Virginia. It was the largest quake in Virginia since 1897 and struck at a shallow depth, increasing its potency. The Pentagon, White House and U.S. Capitol were evacuated in Washington, and thousands of alarmed workers scurried into the streets up and down the East Coast as the lunchtime quake sent items crashing to the floor from store and office shelves."We were rocking," said Larry Beach, who works at the U.S. Agency for International Development in downtown Washington, 83 miles from the quake's epicenter. "It was definitely significant." Federal workers in Washington were sent home early. Washington's National Cathedral, host to state funerals and memorial services for many U.S. presidents, suffered damage with three spires in the central tower breaking off. The U.S. East Coast does not normally feel quakes as strong as Tuesday's. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was of 5.8 magnitude, downgrading an earlier estimate if 5.9. As if a rare strong earthquake were not enough, the East Coast was also on alert for powerful Hurricane Irene which was heading up from the Caribbean and could hit at the weekend. Phone service was disrupted throughout the region as network congestion prevented cellphone users from making calls. In New York, the tremors prompted evacuations of courthouses, City Hall and halted work at the World Trade Center construction site. Control towers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey were also evacuated, and flights were grounded briefly in Washington, Philadelphia and New York. The quake was felt as far away as Toronto. Buildings in Boston were evacuated, and some people who experienced swaying offices said they felt their stomachs turn. In addition to the Virginia earthquake, there were nine tremors in the area immediately around Cokedale, Colorado, near the border of New Mexico, the largest of which was a 5.3 magnitude.

^ I have to say that I didn't feel the earthquake (although I have in the past.) At the time of the quake I was driving on our bumpy, mountain roads that always make the car shake so I didn't now anything happened until I got home. Of course all my friends on Facebook are talking about the quake. The epicenter of the quake is only 10-15 minutes from the house we own and rent out in Virginia (one more reason I never want to ever move back there.) I have heard that people on the West Coast (especially California) are making fun of us. All I have to say to them is that the experts say this kind of earthquake only happens on the East Coast once a century so it was pretty big and that I will be making fun of CA when their state falls into the ocean and they are complaining about it on Facebook. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/magnitude-6-0-quake-hits-u-east-coast-180027828.html