Small Earthquake Rattles Northern Virginia

LANDSDOWNE, VA— An earthquake hit Loudoun County Thursday evening, and residents from northern Virginia to Annapolis, Maryland, likely felt it. The magnitude 1.7 earthquake occurred at 11:23 p.m. about 1.2 miles northeast of Landsdowne, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Nearby Ashburn, Countryside, and Leesburg, are all within 5 miles or less of the quake's epicenter, and would have felt the temblor, the USGS says, while Annapolis is 53 miles away.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said some residents in parts of Lansdowne "felt a slight shake and rumble." Several residents said on the department's Facebook page that they were awakened by the earthquake.

"Felt it and heard it here in Lansdowne. It was like a bomb was dropped on the house," said Suzanne Satterfield. "It woke my son up. People in Lansdowne had called the LCSO to see if they knew what it was. They were great at responding to calls and trying to help discover what it actually was."

One resident asked if there was some movement earlier in the week. "I have a 4th floor condo and felt movement and thought I was crazy - or having a medical issue - but looked at the glass of water on the table next to me and it was swishing back and forth (slightly but enough to see) in the glass," Cindy Wolfe Davis wrote on the sheriff's Facebook page.

Did you feel the earthquake? Tell us in the comments!

So far there's been little chatter about the earth-shaking moment on social media. One crowd-sourced report to the USGS says: "(1.9 km SW from epicenter) (Weak shaking): Felt similar to the shaking during the blasts at local quarry, but the timing was wrong for that."

Past Virginia Quakes

Earthquakes happen when there is movement below the Earth's surface on fault lines. They can occur anywhere in the U.S. and usually last less than a minute, according to FEMA.

Most recently, a quake on Nov. 30, 2017, about 6 miles northeast of Dover, Delaware, was felt from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., and Fairfax County. The initial report was for a 4.4-magnitude quake but the USGS later scaled it back to 4.1.

A 2.4 magnitude earthquake rattled parts of Virginia on Aug. 25, 2017, according to the USGS. The temblor was registered with the epicenter located 6 kilometers from Goochland, Virginia, near Richmond, experts say.

On March 12, 2017, a 2.3 magnitude quake was registered with the epicenter located 6 kilometers from Goochland, Virginia, near Richmond. The USGS reports that people in Rockville, Maryland, felt the quake. And on Dec. 22, 2016, a 2.2 magnitude earthquake was registered with the epicenter located 18 kilometers from Ashland, Virginia. A 2.3 quake centered nine miles south of Louisa, Va. and 27 miles northwest of Short Pump, Virginia, was reported about 18 months ago.

Since at least 1774, people in central Virginia have felt small earthquakes and suffered damage from infrequent larger ones, the USGS noted. The largest damaging earthquake (magnitude 5.8) in the seismic zone occurred in 2011. Smaller earthquakes that cause little or no damage are felt each year or two.

The 5.8-magnitude quake felt by Northern Virginia hit August 23, 2011, when, as the USGS notes: "Tens of millions of people all over the East Coast and southeastern Canada suddenly felt the earth shaking from the largest earthquake in that area since the M5.8 earthquake in 1944 near Cornwall and Massena, New York.

When the earth stopped shaking, more than 148,000 people reported their experience of the earthquake on the Did You Feel It? Web site representing an area occupied by one-third of the U.S. population."

That quake did millions of dollars in damage, including to the National Cathedral, the Armed Forces Retirement Home, and the Washington Monument in Washington D.C., as well as minor to major damage to almost 600 residential properties.

The 5.8 earthquake was centered near the town of Mineral, Va., about 65 km northwest of Richmond at a depth of about 6-8 km.

Photo by Shutterstock / Andrey VP