Strong 5.8 earthquake rattles Washington

The strongest quake to strike eastern America in more than a century rattled offices in the United States' capital. Authorities evacuated buildings as far as New York and shut down two nuclear power plants.

The Indian Embassy, the Pentagon and the US Capitol were among the well-known buildings in Washington that were evacuated on Wednesday during the earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale, which is the strongest since 5.9 magnitude quake in May 1897.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake had its center at 54 kms from Richmond in Virginia and 139 kms from Washington.

Though no casualty or major damage was reported, officials said the National Monument may have been damaged, while the National Cathedral's central tower was damaged.

The century-old historic building near Dupoint Circle in Washington which houses the Indian Embassy to the US was reported to be safe, even as occupants of the building rushed out of it as they felt the shocks last afternoon.

No damage was reported to the nearly half-a-dozen Hindu temples and gurudrawas in the Greater Washington Area. Shocks of the earthquake was also felt as far as Martha's Vineyard where President Barack Obama is on a vacation. Obama was briefed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the earthquake soon thereafter.

"The President was told that there are no initial reports of major infrastructure damage, including at airports and nuclear facilities and that there were currently no requests for assistance," a media release said.

Immediately after the earthquake there was panic in Washington as people inside all the major buildings including Pentagon, the State Department, White House came out. In Pentagon, a water pipe on the building's third floor burst, but plant engineers were able to stop the deluge.

"Though there are no early reports of major damage or requests for assistance at this time, preliminary damage assessments are currently taking place in all affected states and we will continue to work closely with their emergency management officials," said FEMA spokesperson Rachel Racusen.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it is monitoring an alert at the North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia, following the earthquake in central Virginia.

North Anna declared its alert, the second-lowest of the NRC's four emergency classifications, when the plant lost electricity from the grid following the quake that lasted about a minute was felt around two in the afternoon.

Phone lines too jammed for sometime as people tried to reach out to their friends and family to inquire about the incident. New Jersey state police acting Lieutenant Stephen Jones said there were no immediate reports of any serious injuries in New Jersey.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said official buildings like City Hall were evacuated when the tremors were felt but people quickly returned to work.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's scheduled press conference on Dominique Strauss-Kahn's sexual assault case was disrupted when the floor began shaking. Reporters and others present in the room ran out of the building and the DA's security team escorted Vance and the others out of the room.

Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters