5.8 earthquake largest to rock Virginia in a century

The biggest earthquake to hit Virginia in more than 100 years delivered a midday jolt to the East Coast from Georgia to Canada on Tuesday, shaking buildings and sending people scurrying into the streets. Most were wondering: What was that?

Cellphone service was temporarily jammed as surprised residents - many of whom were already tracking Hurricane Irene - called family and friends or city emergency operations centers to ask what had happened.

While no major damage or injuries were reported in Hampton Roads, Dominion Virginia Power shut down the two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station near the epicenter as a precaution, though its Surry nuclear plant remained online. The North Anna plant issued an "Alert," the third-lowest of four emergency classifications.

The magnitude-5.8 quake struck at 1:51 p.m. near Mineral, Va., about 135 miles northwest of South Hampton Roads and 38 miles northwest of Richmond, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was originally rated a 5.9 but was downgraded.

"This is a big one by any measure of an eastern earthquake," said David Spears, Virginia's state geologist, adding that anything greater than magnitude 5 on the East Coast is an "extraordinary" event.

The quake was the second-biggest in Virginia's recorded history. The biggest, a 5.9 tremor near Blacksburg, occurred in 1897. The state's last significant earthquake was a 4.5 near Richmond in 2003.

Geologically, because Virginia is in the middle of a tectonic plate, the state does not experience large-magnitude earthquakes such as those that occur in California, which is on a boundary between two plates, said Jennifer Georgen, a geophysicist at Old Dominion University.

She said aftershocks are likely but may not be felt. In fact, a 2.8 tremor was recorded about an hour after Tuesday's quake in the same general area.

The 5.8 earthquake was felt over such a large area because East Coast bedrock is more solid than the fractured geology of Western states, which allows reverberations to travel far.

Virginia Department of Transportation staffers are inspecting bridges and tunnels and haven't found any problems, a spokeswoman said Tuesday evening. Hampton Roads Transit CEO Phil Shucet said the agency ran a "sweeper" train to check on Norfolk's new light-rail system, The Tide, and found nothing wrong. Ports and airports appear unscathed, too.

"The very good news is the damage and any injuries that have been reported have been very, very minor - no significant destruction," Gov. Bob McDonnell said.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth sent nonessential workers home early to smooth inspections for potential damage. At the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, children ran out of the water and sunbathers sat up from their towels when the quake hit.

"I thought we were being bombed or something," said Phil Trowler of Pittsburgh, on vacation with family.

On the ninth floor of the Comfort Inn, Mille Lace, 58, braced herself on a balcony rail.

"It felt like a wave, like the building was swaying back and forth," the Arkansas resident said. "I thought the hotel was going to fall over."

In Norfolk, financial adviser Joel Jason was working on the 15th floor of the Bank of America building when he felt what he thought was someone rolling a heavy cart. Then the window blinds started rattling and his plants twitched like there was a breeze.

"I looked out in the hallway, and everybody had the same expression," he said.

In Chesapeake, police spokeswoman Kelly O'Sullivan said she was standing outside a second-floor office when she felt the building shake. She thought someone was working on the roof, but a computer monitor was shaking so much she thought it was going to fall off.

In Portsmouth, the staff of the commonwealth's attorney's office didn't lose time leaving the building.

"The whole building was swaying," said Andrew Kolp, a prosecutor.

A Suffolk spokeswoman reported cracks in several city buildings, including the assessor's office and the Whaleyville Fire Station.

Pilot writers Kathy Adams, Janie Bryant, Kristin Davis, Carl Fincke, Dave Forster, Veronica Gonzalez, Scott Harper, Jakon Hays, Mike Hixenbaugh, Jeff Sheler, Bill Sizemore, Lee Tolliver, Julian Walker and Kate Wiltrout contributed to this report.

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com