Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Haarp attack artificial remote earthquake? Or Heavens punishment for war crimes killing in Iraq and Libya?
www.krunchd.com/haarp
Strong East Coast quake highly unusual...
Felt from Toronto to Atlanta...
Epicenter VA...
Felt In Chicago...
Airports Close...
CELLPHONES OUT...
Nuke Plant Shuts Down...
Vacant White House Shakes...
Stones fall off National Cathedral...
WASHINGTON MONUMENT 'TILTING'?...
HOMELAND SECURITY'S QUAKE ADVICE: DON'T CALL...
5.8 MAG QUAKE ROCKS DC-NYC
HURRICANE NEXT?
Shaking has been reported as far north as New York. Reports of shaking have also been coming in from the New England area. According to the USGS, a magnitude 5.5 Eastern US earthquake can typically be felt as far as 300 miles away.
A strong earthquake rattled the East Coast on Tuesday, sending tremors as far as Canada, damaging well-known buildings in the nation's capital and sending scared office workers into the streets.
It was the largest quake in Virginia since 1897 and struck at a shallow depth, increasing its potency.
In addition to the Virginia earthquake, there were nine tremors in the area immediately around Cokedale, Colorado, near the border of New Mexico.
"Today we had two significant earthquakes shake large portions of the country," said David Wald, a geophysicist with the USGS.
"The Western earthquake, magnitude 5.3, within the last 24 hours, shook roughly four western states, primarily Colorado and New Mexico, but also parts of Kansas, Oklahoma as well as Texas -- large states, but probably experienced by tens of thousands of people," he said.
CAPITOL SHAKEN
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.
The quake made chandeliers sway in the U.S. Capitol and the floor of the U.S. Senate shook before staff headed for the exits. Some minor damage could be seen in the rotunda, under the dome of the Capitol.
Bits of paint and plaster fell from high on the walls and chunks of plaster fell from above a doorway in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. The U.S. Congress is in recess so most members were away.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/23/us-quake-usa-idUSTRE77M67120110823
The earthquake came less than three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and in both Washington and New York it immediately triggered fears of something more sinister than a natural disaster.
At the Pentagon, a low rumbling built until the building itself was shaking, and people ran into the corridors of the complex. The shaking continued there, to shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"
More than 12 million people live close enough to the quake's epicenter to have felt shaking, according to the Geological Survey. The agency said put the quake in its yellow alert category, meaning there was potential for local damage but relatively little economic damage.
The USGS said the quake was 3.7 miles beneath the surface, but scientists said they may never be able to map the exact fault.
Aftershocks may help to outline it, said Rowena Lohman, a seismologist at Cornell University. There were at least two aftershocks, magnitudes 2.2 and 2.8.
http://news.yahoo.com/quake-rocks-washington-area-felt-east-coast-181550612.html
