Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Seismic event felt in Northern Virginia
At 1:30 p.m. today, Northern Virginia residents felt the rumblings of a 1.8 magnitude earthquake. The quake originated in Annandale and was felt in Washington, D.C., Arlington, Springfield and Mount Vernon.
Fairfax County Police received reports from multiple callers reporting an audible “boom” sound, followed by roughly four seconds of the earth rumbling. There are no reports of damage to property or injuries related to the incident at this time.
The epicenter of the quake was about two miles west of Annandale, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The last earthquake in Northern Virginia was in Manassas on Sept. 29, 1997, registering 2.5 magnitude. That same year, two months earlier, there was a 2.5 magnitude quake in Culpeper.
In 2005, there was a 2.1 magnitude earthquake near Baltimore, Md.
Regarding the loud boom, “That does happen sometimes,” said Don Blakeman, a seismologist with the USGS. “An earthquake sometimes can be heard, the closer to the epicenter you are.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.