5.9 Magnitude Earthquake Felt, Recorded Locally

The 5.9 magnitude earthquake that  was felt in the metro Atlanta area, according to various reports.  also recorded it on its seismograph.

"This is major news – the White House and the Pentagon have been evacuated and there are ," said Tellus Curator Julian Gray. "A magnitude [5.9] is huge and very rare in these , but they do occasionally happen...The  and the seismic waves arrived at Tellus in just under two minutes."

The Pentagon and the White House reportedly were evacuated, local residents were startled and buildings were shaking, according to news reports from Patch sites in the Washington, D.C. area.

Gray said  also detected the 5.3 magnitude earthquake in Colorado last night, but it's "highly unlikely that these events are related.

"There was a shallow (2.5-mile deep) magnitude 5.3 earthquake in southern Colorado near the New Mexican border over night," Gray said earlier. "People as far away as in western Kansas and northern Colorado felt the quake."

Violent shaking was felt in Manassas, Manassas Park and neighboring suburbs at 1:51 p.m. today, according to Manassas Patch. The epicenter was nine mines from Mineral, VA near Fredricksburg, according to the National Geographical Survey.   

The shaking was felt for about 45 seconds in Manassas and Manassas Park.

Virginia Railway Express said trains are running at reduced speeds because of the quake and afternoon service may be delayed. Amtrak has stopped all train movement until tunnels can be inspected, according to officials. The Metrorail continued to operate.

.

Also follow these links for more updates on the earthquake:

• Earthquake Rattles Much of the Eastern Seaboard