Small Earthquake Shakes Washington D.C. Area

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 10:16 a.m. Eastern.

Washington residents are used to politicians being its movers and shakers. On Friday, however, it was the earth below that shook.

A minor earthquake shook residents awake in the area, rattling windows and jostling dishes but apparently causing no serious damage.

And while Californians might scoff at the 3.6-magnitude quake, Susan Potter, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said it was the strongest to hit within 30 miles of D.C. since they began keeping records in 1974.

The quake hit at 5:04 a.m. EDT and was centered in the Rockville, Md., area, said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. Baldwin said aftershocks could occur over the next couple days, but none had yet been reported. He said the aftershocks are generally of a smaller magnitude than the initial earthquake.

Police in Washington and in nearby Montgomery County, Md., said they received many calls from residents Friday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

CBS News staff in the Maryland suburb of Bethesda and the Virginia suburb of Arlington both reported feeling the tremor.

Water, gas and electric utilities reported no problems to the District of Columbia Department of Homeland Security, which said streets were clear and the subway wasn't affected.

Tafelila Pilgrim, 78, was in her bathroom in Washington getting ready to start her day when the shaking started. A plastic glass of water she had placed on the sink fell and she said she shouted to her roommates.

"I start screaming," she said. "I was afraid."

On the U.S. Geological Survey's website, more than 11,000 people by mid-morning reported feeling the quake, some from as far away as Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The agency said earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains can be felt over an area as much as 10 times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the West Coast.

Many compared the sound of the earthquake to trains, trucks and low-flying planes.

Debby Taylor Busse said she was in the basement of her home in Vienna, Va., in Fairfax County when she felt the quake hit. She was already awake watching television, but her husband had been asleep in a second-floor bedroom when the tremor woke him.

"I didn't know what it was," Busse said. "I have never been in an earthquake before. It felt like an airplane going overhead or thunder, but it wasn't coming from above."

She said it lasted just a few seconds and compared it to a strong thunder strike - enough to rattle the house, but not enough to knock anything over.

Gerasimos Michalitsianos, a rising senior and geology student at the University of Maryland, College Park, said he was sitting on his couch looking at e-mails when the temblor occurred.

"I assumed that maybe a plane was flying low. I didn't actually know that I was in an earthquake," said Michalitsianos, who is studying postseismic relaxation, how the ground changes following major earthquakes.

Michalitsianos said he only found out he'd been through an earthquake when he looked online.

"It was a rare treat to see an earthquake occur here on the East Coast and to actually feel it," he said.

Washington resident Denver Turner was sitting at the computer answering e-mails when he felt the carpet begin to vibrate beneath his feet.

"I didn't know DC got earthquakes, really," Turner said. "Definitely my first experience and not something I'd want to go through on a greater scale."

The Washington area has had small, infrequent earthquakes over the years, including a 2.5-magnitude quake in 1997 that was within 25 to 30 miles of Friday's quake and a 2.3-magnitude quake in 1996 that was within 15 miles, Baldwin said.

"The thing that makes this (Friday's) earthquake distinctive is that is was felt widely over the region," he said.

[dresia]

Go to Matthew Chapter 24 in your Bible and see what it says. This is no laughing matter. The next quake will be bigger. This is the third one we've had here on the East coast.

[Seniorgraduatingstudent]

From my blog @blogspot:
Please visit http://www.assistgraduatingstudent.blogspot.com/
My phone rang around 5:30am this morning. A friend called me from Washington DC area to let me know that they had an earthquake. Needless to say, I could not go back to bed after the call and turned on the news. NBC news stated that the earthquake was 3.6 on a Richter scale which is considered a minor earthquake. Given that the area had not had an earthquake that one could feel in the past 30 years, NBC news took the breaking news to an a laughable level when they took interviews (phone and in person) and people told stories about "how they felt" before, during, and after the quake. One woman stated that she was awoken by it. Seriously, a 3.6 earthquake is equal to a big truck coming through a neighbourhood (as one of the other interviewees commented). There is a railroad behind the house where I live and believe me, I don't wake up when the train passes by and shakes the whole house. Moreover, I used to live in an area of elevated seismic activity when you literary could watch chandeliers swing for 10 min after the quake.
These interviews, comments, and discussions were unnecessary. Another example of news channels blowing everything out of proportion.

[stn_sage]

Well, this is long past due!
Washington, D.C. is responsible for waging disaster on the public for decades!
It's only 'fair play' that it now experiences the same it's given out!
Let's hope the next time it's a 9.0 or bigger earthquake!

[M_Miles]

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it was the strongest quake to hit within 30 miles of D.C. since the agency began keeping records in 1974.

Is it possible that the tectonic plates underneath Washington D.C. are now being lubricated by the huge oil spill of the gulf?

Plate tectonic movement is a major factor in earthquakes. Studies were done on plate tectonic movement in Colorado finding that the Rocky Mountain Arsenal was the most likely cause of earthquakes some time ago.

The Arsenal at that time was pumping radio active fluids deep beneath the surface of the earth causing tectonic plates to slide and thereby earthquakes became frequent. When the pumping stopped the earthquakes subsided.

Oil is a greater lubricating agent then radio active fluid. It is a possiblity?

[Lifeson2112]

Faults are fairly localised. You would have to inject a LOT of oil directly into an active fault and even then it probably wouldn't do anything. And to my knowledge there aren't any faults running from the Gulf up to the DC area. Water lubricates most of the rock cycle to produce plate tectonics. This is most evident in subduction zones where one plate dives under another.

[Lifeson2112]

by USA_is_back July 16, 2010 11:58 AM EDT

What if the 2010 elections go the same way as the 2006 and 2008? Are you FINALLY going to accept the will of the American people or are you going to continue throwing temper tamtrums?
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If the Republicans win are YOU finally going to accept the will of the people? Or just disparage them for being uneducated?

[GTR5]

Please try a again Lord, and a lot harder next time.

[ainventor]

Those who live in glass houses? We always see on TV the destruction of buildings in other countries after an earthquake. The reporter will always say something like "it's because of the way the buildings were constructed". Well guess what. If you go into any small town across the U.S. you'll see the buildings that were built over 100 years ago. They weren't built to withstand earthquakes either. They're no different than buildings in other countries. If we have a major earthquake in this country anywhere, there's still going to be a lot of buildings that will collapse.

[larrryshrine]

At least we all can have a little fun with this one:)

[consciousnes]

It is trying to warn the president and congress that they had better start listening to the people or it will get worse.

[dontknowitall]

To bad a sinkhole didn't appear and swallow all of the deadwood in Washington. Now that's......change!