Earthquake Hits Virginia, East Coast
Details about after tremor will be shared as they are learned.
UPDATED 4:02 p.m.
A long tremor that last several seconds shook Ashburn and the surrounding region at about 1:50 today, Aug. 23. The shaking could be felt at least as far west as Leesburg, as far east as Washington, DC, and as far south as Richmond, according to news reports and witnesses in those areas.
The U.S. Geological Survey rated it a 5.8 magnitude with an epicenter about 4 miles from Mineral, VA, or about 41 miles west of Richmond.
Shortly after the earthquake, George Hetherington left her Ashburn home and headed up to Stone Bridge High School, where students and parents were walking in and out getting ready for school to start next week, and local Republicans were holding a primary. Hetherington was talking to Cheryl Forbes, but the earthquake was just one of many topics.
Both said they first thought it may have just been a blast at the quarry.
"My daughter came in and said there must have been an earthquake," Hetherington explained. "I said, 'Oh no, that was blasting at the quarry."
It was not Hetherington's first earthquake. She lived in Japan in the late '60s and early '70s and experienced higher-magnitude quakes. She was also married to a military man and knows the sound jet engines make. Most earthquakes she's experienced make a similar sound, but did not hear that today, she said.
"I didn't recognize this as an earthquake because there was no sound," she said. "There's usually a heck of a sound."
The trembling that at least one Belmont Greene home experienced was much worse than a normal blast from the quarry; walls shook throughout the home for several seconds. Hetherington said some dishes at her home near Stone Bridge fell.
Gov. Bob McDonnell said in a statement that officials are continuing to assess the situation. He enouraged residents to make sure their neighbors are safe.
Neelofar Haram
5:18 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
We heard some sounds, our chandlier was swaying and the home was shaking. My neighbours evacuated their homes, a couple of moms holding onto their little ones . A neighbour said, 'Its Scary".
Miriam Nash
6:41 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
My son in Lovettsville called right after our shock in Leesburg to say he felt the quake so it went further west than Leesburg
Stephanie Rossi
7:23 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Here, in Leesburg, there was a sound. At first I thought it was a massive storm, but nothing was blowing around on the deck.
Alexis Davies
7:37 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
It sounded like a freight train coming down the street. I heard it coming and then suddenly BAM! it slammed into our house. I thought at first a big gust of wind had just hit us, but as I looked out the window nothing was moving. The whole house was shaking. I stood up to look out the window (I thought maybe something had exploded at the airport) and the floor under my feet felt like rubber. It wasn't hard to walk around, just really odd feeling. Pretty intense!
Dusty Smith
9:22 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
That's exactly what Mrs. Hetherington said she expected to hear, something like a freight train. I heard noise, but nothing that loud. I knew it was more than a typical blast at the quarry just by the way the walls shook at my house.