Earthquake measuring 5.9 strikes US east coast

No immediate reports of injuries as epicentre traced to Virginia and tremors felt in New York and Martha’s Vineyard A 5.9-magnitude earthquake centred in Virginia has shaken much of Washington DC and was felt as far north as New York City and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where the US president, Barack Obama, is on holiday. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile (800 metres) deep. Tremors were 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. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The quake was centred north-west of Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and south of Washington. Obama and many of the nation’s leaders were out of Washington and on holiday when the quake struck at 1.51pm EDT (5.51 GMT). The shaking was felt on the Martha’s Vineyard golf course as Obama was starting a round. The east coast gets earthquakes, but they are usually smaller and the area is less prepared than California or Alaska. At Reagan National airport, outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. All flights were put on hold. 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, shouted: “Evacuate! Evacuate!” In New York, the 26-storey federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building.The social media site Twitter filled with reports of the earthquake from people using the site up and down the US east coast. “People pouring out of buildings and onto the sidewalks in downtown DC …” tweeted the Republican strategist Kevin Madden. “Did you feel earthquake in ny? It started in richmond va!” tweeted Arianna Huffington, the editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post. Virginia United States Barack Obama guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.