"Of all the things there are to worry about, earthquakes are fairly low on the list for those on the East Coast. So it was startling, just as the lunch hour was ending Tuesday and workers in a broad area of North America were settling back into their cubicles, when floors began to shake and chairs rocked."
"In Clemson, S.C., water sloshed in glasses. In Washington, chandeliers swayed in the Capitol. And in the tiny town of Mineral, Va., china cabinets exploded.
An unusual earthquake centered near Mineral startled millions of people from Maine to Georgia on Tuesday. In the end there were few reports of serious damage, with more rattling of nerves than of property.
But the tremors disrupted life in some of the nation’s biggest population centers. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from office buildings. Cellphone service was strangled as the quake led to disruptions in air traffic, halted trains, jammed roadways and gave some on the West Coast an opportunity to poke fun at Easterners who seemed panicked and uncertain of how to respond. In earthquake-prone areas, people usually are instructed to stay inside to avoid falling debris, but in places where earthquakes are unfamiliar — and in a post-Sept. 11 environment — few argued with evacuation commands."
Katharine Q. Seelye Reports for the New York Times August 23, 2011.
SEE ALSO:
"5.8 Virginia Earthquake Shakes East Coast, Rattles Residents" (Washington Post)
"Washington Monument Top Cracked by Earthquake" (AP)
"US Earthquake Leads To Evacuation of White House" (Guardian)
"Top Staffers Brief Obama on Quake Status" (Washington Times)
"Central Va., East Coast Recovering From 5.8 Quake" (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
"5.8 Virginia Earthquake Shakes East Coast, Rattles Residents" (Washington Post)
"Out West, Eye Rolls and Jeers for East" (New York Times)
"Marcellus Shale Drilling To Blame for Virginia Earthquake? No Fracking Way, Industry Officials Say" (Harrisburg Patriot-News)
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