Small earthquake hits Northern Virginia

The earthquake occurred at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, and the epicenter was about a mile from Annandale

By: Associated Press | WSLS
Published: May 06, 2008

ANNANDALE, Va. (AP) - A small earthquake shook the Washington area Tuesday, and some residents reported feeling tremors, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
There were no reports of damage or injuries.
The earthquake occurred at 1:30 p.m., and the epicenter was about a mile from Annandale. The Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 1.8.
Some people called authorities to report that they could feel the ground rumbling, said Debbie Powers, deputy coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management for Arlington County.
Earthquakes with a magnitude of about 2.0 or less are usually called microearthquakes, and about 1,000 occur around the world each day, said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.
Presgrave said microearthquakes rarely attract attention unless they occur in a large metropolitan area.
"Quakes of this size are strong enough to be felt in dense population areas, especially in high rise buildings," he said.
Earthquakes are rare, but not unheard of, in the Washington area. In September 1997, a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded near Manassas, Presgrave said. And in February 2005, a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded on the southern edge of Baltimore.

Small earthquake hits Northern Virginia

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