A magnitude 5.8 earthquake rattled the East Coast this afternoon, causing panic and confusion from North Carolina to as far north as New Hampshire, the US Geological Survey said.
The Pentagon and Capitol Building in Washington, DC, were evacuated at 1:51 p.m., shortly after a powerful tremble was felt.
No injuries were reported.
“For many people this was a stressful afternoon, but there was no major harm,” said Mayor Bloomberg.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was 3.7 miles deep, officials said.
The USGS had initially said the quake was a 6.0, but it was later downgraded.
Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, NC.
The quake was felt as far north as Martha’s Vineyard, where President Obama and his family are vacationing this summer.
The quake’s epicenter was in Mineral, Va., in Louisa County, about 90 miles away from DC.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, posted on Twitter a description of the strength of the quake as felt from his building at the university.
“I thought the Pavilion would collapse — seriously,” he wrote. “At first I thought it was an explosion. Pavilion IV on Lawn was swaying. Cracks here and there, broken window panes.”
The quake zone is within 100 miles of two nuclear power plants. The reactors were automatically taken off line by safety systems and no damage was reported at either location.
Washington’s Union Station was evacuated and damaged as a result of the quake. Cracks opened up and chunks of plaster fell from the ceiling.
DC police told a Fox News producer that there is concern that the Washington Monument may have slightly tilted during the earthquake.
In New York, City Hall was also evacuated after a tremor was felt. Bloomberg was escorted from the building along with other city workers soon after the ground shook.
“Like people up and down the East Coast, New Yorkers across the five boroughs felt the effect of this afternoon’s earthquake in Virginia,” said Bloomberg.
“I’ve spoken with our police and fire commissioners, and we’ve activated the Office of Emergency Management’s Situation Room and spoken to other city agencies, including the Department of Buildings. Thankfully, there are no reports of significant damage or injuries in New York City at this time.”
The city’s Office of Emergency Management said preliminary reports showed there were no major impacts to buildings and no injuries.
The 26-story federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan began swaying as hundreds of people were seen leaving the building.
Jeff Sarath, a mailroom supervisor in the Manhattan federal courthouse, was standing at the eighth-floor counter when the quake struck.
“I felt the building shaking,” the 70-year-old Chelsea resident said. “I held on to the counter to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating or something.”
Lawyer Jeff Fourmaux was sitting on the sixth floor of the building waiting to see a judge when “it seemed like maybe somebody was rolling something very heavy in the hallway.”
“And then it just stopped and it seemed like there was a steamroller on the floor above us,” he said. “It was a very odd feeling because you don’t expect a building to start moving in Manhattan.”
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said he was on the 14th floor at 1 Police Plaza when he felt “a distinct rumbling followed by movement.”
“We’ve ordered an evacuation but we kept 911 and communications [open]. They’re not evacuating from their posts. No buildings have collapsed and no communications have been disrupted.”
One police officer said the tremors felt like being on a boat.
“It felt like waves,” he said.
At the start of a news conference conducted by Manhattan DA Cy Vance, staffers and prosecutors could be seen scurrying from the podium shortly after the ground moved. Confused reporters and cameramen looked on as workers with the DA’s office fled for the exits.
The control towers at JFK and Newark airports were briefly evacuated and flights resumed after they’d been delayed for about an hour.
“I was in my building and my couch started to move back and forth. Then my TV started moving and then the chair,” said Lorraine Parson, 74, of Brooklyn.
City subways and rails were not impacted by the quake, officials said.
Gov. Cuomo said that the state’s Office of Emergency Management was monitoring effects of the quake.
“Currently, there have been no reports of damage to buildings, bridges, roads, power grids, the Indian Point nuclear power plant or other infrastructure,” Cuomo said.
Cell phone service in and around Washington, DC, was disrupted briefly after the tremor.
The rattling was strong enough that pictures hanging in the Capitol building reportedly fell from the walls.
Aftershocks from the quake made the press box sway slightly during the first game of a doubleheader between the Indians and Seattle Mariners.
As the Mariners were batting in the fourth inning Tuesday, the press box high above home plate and the third-base line moved left and right and continued for nearly 30 seconds.
Fans at Progressive Field did not seem to notice any unusual movement. Play was not interrupted on the field.
The Indians had no immediate word if there was any structural damage.
USGS geophysicist Daniel McNamara said the quake that rattled much of the East Coast cannot be traced to a specific fault.
McNamara said the same applies to a magnitude-5.3 quake that struck southern Colorado late Monday. That area, too, has seen little seismic activity on such a large scale.
McNamara stressed there is no connection between the two quakes.
VIDEO: White House, Capitol shaken by quake
With AP