Mineral, Virginia-based Earthquake Shakes Areas Up and Down the East Coast

A 6.0 earthquake shook far beyond its epi-center in Mineral, Virginia; shaking was felt from as far north as Rhode Island, New York and as far south as Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Starting at approximately 1:51 PM at the epi-center 3.7 miles beneath the surface, reports are varying as to how long the quake lasted; best estimates are only a few seconds.

Earthquake Instrumental Intensity Map from USGS (click to enlarge).

Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. In New York, government buildings in the city, including City Hall, were evacuated. The 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building. Causing evacuations in West Virginia, Boston, North Carolina and many other locations, this quake was felt far and wide. Thankfully, no reports have been made of serious damages or fatalities as of yet.

–> You may also like: What Caused the Virginia Earthquake Today?

The quake came less than 24 hours after the strongest earthquake to strike Colorado in more than 40 years shook hundreds of people awake Monday. Starting at 11:46 PM, that earthquake was a 5.3 on the Richter scale and reached 2.5 miles down at its epi-center.

Many believe the increasing number of natural disasters is due to the abuse our planet is forced to endure. This is a very controversial subject and, frankly, my personal opinion is that the earth does change and shift, and this is not the end of the world. Though, I admit, I secretly do hope it wakes up some people to their non-eco-friendly ways and they decide to make a change in lifestyle. Whether it is a normal earth occurrence, or the sign of a coming apocalypse,  it never fails to remind people just how fragile we are.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top