Did You Feel It?

The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck the Virginia area shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, with the aftershock being felt as far away as Connecticut and western Massachusetts. 

The earthquake struck at approximately 1:53 p.m. north of Richmond, VA.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy opened the state's Emergency Operations Center shortly after the quake and sent out the following statement: 

“The movement people in Connecticut felt was associated with the earthquake which originated in Virginia.  Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection staff is at the Emergency Operations Center as a precaution, but at this point, there have been no reports of injury or damage.”

Malloy closed the state's Emergency Operations Center at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, and there were no serious injuries reported anywhere in Connecticut due to the quake, although there were numerous reports of building evacuations throughout the state and as far away as Springfield, MA, immediately after the quake. 

John Wallace, Bradley International Airport spokesman, said he felt some tremors at his desk and saw the blinds in his office's window shake for a few seconds. However, the tremors had no effect on Bradley operations, he said.

The airport is however having some flights from the Washington D.C. area diverted there, he said. That is similar to a weather event, when Bradley is “a port in a storm.”

East Windsor Town Clerk Joanne Slater said she started to feel her chair shake in town hall and she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. She looked outside to see if there was any work being done but didn’t see anything.

“I went out in the hall and everybody was talking about it,” Slater said. “Everything was just moving, we didn’t know what it was. It felt kind of strange.”

Residents called town hall asking what had just happened as well, Slater said.

John Boyd, the president of Fuss & O’Neill Technologies and the owner of a building on Main Street in downtown Manchester, said he was having lunch at at 841 Main Street in Manchester Tuesday afternoon when he and other diners experienced the quake.

“The building began to shake noticeably,” Boyd said. “The tables were going back and forth, water was slopping out of the glass. You could notice that the building itself was being shaken for about 30 or 40 seconds.”

Boyd is also the owner of a building at 893 Main St. in downtown Manchester, which he said he had to inspect after the quake to ensure the safety of the structure. He said he found no damage to the building, but that many people inside it at the time were shaken by the quake. 

“People were noticeable rattled,” he said. “They were surprised to realize that even here in New England we live on one of the largest fault lines which goes all the way to Virginia, which is the Connecticut River Valley.” 

According to the Northeast States Emergency Consortium, there have been 137 reported earthquakes in Connecticut from 1668 and 2007. 

Windsor Locks-East Windsor Editor Larry Smith contributed to this report.