WASHINGTON - A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt as far north as Rhode Island, New York City and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where President Barack Obama is vacationing.
Officials say it was the biggest earthquake in Virginia in the last 100 years.
Two aftershocks have been reported. The first at 2:46 p.m., the second at 3:20 p.m. The first was measured at 2.8 on the Richter Scale. There is no information on the second.
The quake sent hundreds of people spilling into the street a block from the White House, with other buildings evacuated in North Carolina and tremors felt as far away as New York City.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. The quake was in Mineral, Va., in Louisa County.
Anthony Vining, who lives in the epicenter in Mineral, Va., said, "I thought it was a plane breaking the sound barrier, but then it started getting more intense. Things started falling off the shelves. Shelves were breaking. I was running out the back door I watched the chimney fall. All the wood I have piled up against the house came down, animals running through the yard."
"The sound of it was like a hundred times worse than thunder. It was like the sky was falling. The sound came from the ground."
The U.S. weather service says no tsunami is expected.
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