A earthquake of magnitude 5.9 hit in Richmond Virginia today. The quake gave Washington D.C. a serious shake. People as far north as Rhode Island and New York said they felt the earth quake. Citizens Bank ball park, where the Philadelphia Phillies play was forced to be evacuated because of the fear for aftershocks.
Geologists recorded aftershocks measuring 2.2 and 2.8 after the initial earth quake. Many office buildings were evacuated because of the quake and all national monuments in Washington D.C. were forced to close. There has not been any injuries or damages that were caused by the quake that have been reported yet.
The majority of federal buildings reopened Tuesday afternoon when geologists believed the aftershocks had subsided. Most officials asked that their employees grab what they need and head home for the day while engineers check the structural integrity of all the buildings.
The earth quake also caused a nuclear power plant near the epicenter to close down. Many feared that an earth quake could cause a nuclear meltdown like what almost happened in Japan. Dominion Virginia Power said both reactors at its North Anna plant were shut down after the first tremors. The plant was only 20 miles away from the epicenter.
Many geologists believe we have not seen the last of the aftershocks. We should expect the possibility of them for the next few weeks.
The quake happened at 1:51 P.M., local time. The quake was reportedly a very shallow one, only going 3.7 miles deep.
Earth quakes are quite uncommon out on the east coast. Many people thought it was a truck rumbling or a airplane taking off instead of an actual earth quake.
This part of Virginia has had earth quakes before, but they are not usually this strong. The last time a earth quake of similar size on the Richter scale was in 1897.