Aug. 23, 2011, 2:30 p.m. EDT
Rare earthquake shakes Eastern seaboard
Temblor measured at 5.9 prompts evacuations in Washington D.C.
by Russ Britt, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — A rare earthquake measured at 5.9 and centered near Richmond, Va., shook much of the Eastern seaboard Tuesday, with tremors felt as far away as Boston and prompting evacuations in the Washington, D.C. area.
The temblor, described as a “shallow” quake in various news accounts, was centered just west of Richmond and caused severe shaking in the nation’s capital. Reports surfaced that the quake was felt in Pennsylvania, Boston, New York and south to North Carolina.
No severe damage was reported in any of the regions, though many government offices in Washington were evacuated.
Carol Hazard, a business reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the newspaper for the closest major city to the epicenter, noted no major damage to buildings in that region when her downtown offices were evacuated temporarily.
“I didn’t see any damage here. I didn’t see any buildings collapse,” Hazard said.
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