5.8 earthquake leaves Central Virginia shaken, not stirred

Tuesday’s earthquake rattled light fixtures, knocked pictures from walls and set off numerous alarms but caused little damage in the Lynchburg area.

Lynchburg’s Emergency Communications Center was inundated with calls from concerned residents — some 188 in less than 40 minutes, said William Aldrich, the center’s director.

“No injuries or significant property damage reported at this point,” Aldrich wrote in an email. “Most of the calls we got were just wondering what happened.”

No significant damage or injuries were reported in Amherst, Bedford or Nelson counties, either.

The Nelson County Courthouse in Lovingston was evacuated during the earthquake, said Ray Uttaro, emergency services coordinator for Nelson County.

Lynchburg City Schools Director of Facilities Steve Gatzke said at about 3:30 p.m. that he had received no reports of damage at any of the schools.

Heritage High School evacuated briefly following the quake, according to Principal Mark Miear.

Officials checked the building for 20 or so minutes and then let students back in to grab their book bags in time for regular dismissal at 2:30 p.m. After-school activities continued as scheduled.

During an interview later, Principal Mark Miear showed an orange flip chart that the school uses during possible emergency situations.

There's a tab for “earthquake,” right between “fallen aircraft” and “chemical release.” Miear said that he opened the “earthquake” tab and found instructions, which gave officials discretion on ordering an evacuation, depending on the circumstances. Miear felt known structural problems with the Heritage High School building warranted evacuating the students.

Within a few minutes of the quake, Amherst County school administrators sent an email to staffers to let them know what had happened, said Superintendent Brian Ratliff.

All after-school activities were canceled “just as a precautionary measure, to get people to settle down,” Ratliff said.

Ratliff sent maintenance staffers including a retired structural engineer from the Amherst County Education Foundation to examine all school buildings. 

Tatiana Gilstrap, environmental sciences professor at Randolph College, said the quake wasn’t entirely unexpected but one of that magnitude is rare in Virginia.

“I don’t think there has been an earthquake in that area this big before,” Gilstrap said.

A couple of aftershocks hit in the hours after the quake but were too small to be felt in the Lynchburg area.

Gilstrap said the quake’s epicenter was far enough away that the Lynchburg area did not see much in the way of damage.

David Roberts, structural engineering department manager for Wiley-Wilson, said his team has been out inspecting two of Areva’s buildings for damage in the aftermath of the quake.

“Older, unreinforced structures like in downtown are the most susceptible,” Roberts said.

Roberts said the company may receive more calls to inspect structures as people notice cracks or loosened light fixtures. Those things are worth examining to make sure there is no structural damage.

Brooke Haiar, environmental science professor at Lynchburg College, said the earthquake was sizable considering Virginia is not located along a plate boundary.

The quake was widely felt, Haiar said, due to its shallow nature — only 3.7 miles underground.

“That’s what made the shaking so intense,” Haiar said. “That, plus the higher magnitude. It’s a very rare event.”

When the earthquake began rattling Guy Rivers' house in Big Island, he initially suspected his wife was behind it.

“I was sitting in the kitchen when, all of a sudden, the floor began to shake rather violently,” he said. “I thought it might be my wife washing clothes, but when I asked her, she denied it.”

Verma Rivers, a retired geologist, was outside skimming her swimming pool when the earthquake hit. She knew immediately what it was.

“The ground began to shake and the ground doesn't shake unless something's going on,” she said. “It was not that severe, but it was certainly a tremor.”

Patricia Burstein of Little Creek Road in Lynchburg said the quake shook the foundation of her house. She and her neighbor both came out of their houses in alarm.

“It was quite scary, I'll tell you,” she said.

She didn't realize the shaking was an earthquake, she said, until her stepdaughter called from out of state to ask if she was all right, after seeing news of the quake online.

Staff writers Jessie Pounds, Alicia Petska, Erin McGrath and Scott Marshall contributed to this report.