Earthquake in Virginia rattles New Yorkers
NEW YORK - It's been 67 years since an earthquake this big has hit New York. It took a 5.8 earthquake to do it, but as CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports, the city that prides itself in taking the uncommon in stride was more than a little shaken up.
"We looked straight ahead and we saw the windows going like this," one witness said. "And we said 'ok, it's time to leave.'"
In most cities cities east of the Mississippi - "earthquake" wouldn't be the first thought on many minds. And certainly not in New York.
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"The first thought is 9/11," the man said. "And what's happened here, an earthquake in NY - it happens. But you just don't feel it like that."
Cy Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney was holding a news conference when the building started to shake.
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Airports in New York and Philadelphia suspended opreations. In Cleveland, the afternoon ballgame was stopped.
While the eastern half of the country isn't known for grand scale quakes - history suggests their potential. In 1811 and 1812, earthquakes in the New Madrid fault zone were so strong that the Mississippi River flowed backward, and bells were rung in Boston.
Researchers like Ernie Majer are working on early detection systems. "By understanding the physics of the process and watching it.. and say 'uh oh.. there's one is coming.'"
That takes funding. The U.S. Geological service, the agency in charge of earthquake research has been told to expect a 10 percent this year.
