Anybody Feel the Earthquake?

In a rare occurrence Tuesday afternoon, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake, centered in Mineral, Va., rocked the East Coast. It is said to have been the largest quake in the area since 1897.

Buildings were evacuated, nuclear reactors shut down, flights were grounded and phone service interrupted. Some people thought they were just having a dizzy spell, others thought a bomb must have gone off somewhere. And wall-to-wall media coverage of the quake that damaged nothing began.

We found this hard-hitting report online. (We're allowed; no one was hurt).

While everything was unfolding, and before we knew for sure that everybody was OK, Facebook became the go-to place for people updating friends and family or looking for more information.

We also put a call out on the Elmhurst Patch Facebook page to our East Coast friends asking for any updates.

Here are the responses we received between about 2 and 3 p.m. Central time Tuesday: 

Diana L. Goulding: "This from my friends in Norfolk, VA: 'Wow. Just had an earthquake here. Building shook and swayed. Guessing it was about a 3 or 4 at least... never been through one before. All seems well by all reports. I have heard the bridges and tunnels in the area have been shut down for now.' Magnitude 5.9 http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/se082311a.html"

Carrie Calhoun: "It was pretty big. Yes, hearing 5.8 or 5.9 from the local npr station. I was outside standing on concrete at a water park and not in my 3rd floor apartment when it hit. Everyone was evacuated from the pool area and the poor lifeguards were freaking out after sitting in their chairs during the whole thing not knowing what was going on. My friend was on the opposite side, and when she came walking back with her kids we both just said, 'Oh, wow' and showed each other our shaking hands. She's from CA and even she said it was a big one."

Carrie Calhoun: "I was about 20 miles west of D.C."

Gina Geraldi: "I am an Elmhurst native in Greensboro, NC, now, and felt the entire house shake quite a bit just before 2pm. It was short but it was more than just a truck rumbling by, that's for sure. Thought I was slightly crazy until I managed to get on FB (network seems to be having problems in my area) and saw several other local updates about the shaking, and then turned on the tv to see it on Fox News. I think it's very rare around here so it was quite surprising!"

Kendra Scudder Thompson: "I heard people in the Loop felt it too?"

We are relieved no one was hurt. Please keep us informed of any updates, or add your quake experience in the comment section below.

Steady as she goes.

Next up: Hurricane Irene.