There were no immediate reports of damage as buildings were cleared throughout Richmond and other cities in Virginia, but within minutes, Richmond police began receiving calls about possible property damage. Those calls included a possible collapsed wall at a house along East Broad Street in the city's East End and a possible wall collapse at a structure along Hioaks Road in South Richmond.
"MSNBC says the Washington monument is leaning to left. Fox news says its to the right." ( @jeffheimbuch )
"Specifically, three 'finials' (capstones shaped like fleurs-de-lys) have fallen from them, with more significant damage to two of the pinnacles. Similar decorative elements on the Cathedral's exterior also appear to be damaged. Cracks have appeared in the flying buttresses around the apse at the Cathedral's east end, the first portion of the building to be constructed, but the buttresses supporting the central tower seem to be sound."
occurred in 1875." Elsewhere, it writes that "the largest earthquake to originate in Virginia in historic times occurred on May 31, 1897," in the southwestern part of the state." That temblor had an estimated 5.9 magnitude, meaning it was slightly stronger than today's.Update at 3:52 p.m. ET. At The Pentagon.Stars and Stripes writes that:
"The Pentagon violently shook during Tuesday's 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Arlington, Va., as thousands of employees and visitors ran full speed for the exits."Reporters in the second-floor media filing center felt some initial swaying and as some quickly noted they had felt no 'boom' to indicate any explosions (or ever-feared plane crashes) the walls began to roll back and forth more intensely, causing a rush for the doors."
Update at 3:46 p.m. ET. Magnitude Revised:The USGS now says the earthquake registered 5.8 magnitude.Update at 3:34 p.m. ET. Damage Reports: So far the reports of damage have been minimal but the The Washington Post reports a building collapse in the Southeast part of the city:
A congressional staffer reported that a portion of a building collapsed on the 300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in Southeast."A huge dust cloud came from the BBT building," he said, and "the people who came out of it said the back collapsed." The staffer said he was a pizza place and that "the entire ground literally moved up and down — you could see it."
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that after the earthquake, people started calling 911 to report possible damage:
Those calls included a possible stairwell collapse along North First Street downtown, a possible wall collapse along East Broad Street in the city's East End and a possible wall collapse at a structure along Hioaks Road in South Richmond _ as well as numerous reports of possible gas leaks.
Update at 3:30 p.m. ET. National Cathedral Damaged; Small Aftershock Reported:The Washington Post reports that "the tip of the National Cathedral in Washington spire crashed onto the steps on Pilgrim Road. Three of the four pinnacles of the central tower are down and there's significant damage, said spokesman Richard Weinberg. No injuries were reported."Meanwhile, according to the USGS, there was a 2.8 magnitude quake in the same area of Virginia at 2:46 p.m. ET.Update at 3:23 p.m. ET. USGS Shakemap: The USGS released this map that shows "instrumental intensity." It shows the epicenter was between Richmond and Charlottesville:Update at 3:20 p.m. ET. Nuclear Power Plant Goes "Offline":There are two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Va., not too far from the earthquake's epicenter. The Associated Press reports that federal officials say the reactors "were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake" and that the plant is "being run off of four emergency diesel generators."The company confirms on its Twitter page that "both reactors at North Anna Power Station were shut down safely with no reports of damage."David McIntyre, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulator Commission, tells NPR there is usually enough diesel fuel for the generators to run for at least a week.Another nuclear power plant in Virginia, as well as plants in Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey felt the temblor but did not shut down, McIntyre said.Update at 3:05 p.m. ET. Smithsonian Castle Damaged: G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and an earthquake engineer, said the Smithsonian Institution Building, or the castle as it's referred to, had suffered some damage. He was standing outside of the castle when he spoke to us and said he saw cracking inside the building and some of the windows had shattered.Clough said it this was a big earthquake and he's experienced quite a few on the West Coast, he said.The problem in the area, he said, is that the construction is not made to withstand earthquakes. He said the Castle was built in 1881 with brick that was not reinforced, so they've decided to close the the building and will have it structurally inspected.At the time of the quake, Clough said, he was in a meeting and he felt the tell tale sings of an earthquake, including the see-saw motion.Update at 3 p.m. ET. "Oh, My God, This is An Earthquake":In Washington, D.C., Anita Fogan was at her job with the United States Mint, "when I thought our building got hit by a wrecking ball from the construction site next door. Then, I heard things falling off shelves and thought 'Oh, my God, this is an earthquake.' That's when I got out of the building."Update at 2:33 p.m. ET. Historical Perspective: As we said earlier, earthquakes, especially this strong, are rare in the area. According to the USGS, "the largest damaging earthquake (magnitude 4.8) in the seismic zone occurred in 1875. Smaller earthquakes that cause little or no damage are felt each year or two.(Contributing: Scott Neuman) Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
