Sitting in my office in downtown DC.
It was a pretty long shake—a mild rumble followed by 10 30 seconds of violent shaking, then some more rumbling with the aftershocks.
It's still rolling a little bit, or maybe that's just my heart racing.
Anyone else feel that?
10:59 AM PT: They've just evacuated the Reagan and Wilson buildings, across the street from my office. MSNBC saying it's a 5.8 near Mineral, VA.
11:03 AM PT: USGS map:
11:07 AM PT: Now that I think about it some more, here's a recollection... small shakes for about 20-25 seconds like a passing truck, where my California Sense kicked in and said "holy shit, it's an earthquake." Then violent shaking for about 30 seconds, stuff fell off my wall. Then another minute or two of light shaking... I've felt what I think have been little rumbles here and there since then, but it might have been my heart racing.
11:08 AM PT: Per MSNBC: It's been upgraded to a 6.0.
11:17 AM PT: Seeing reports of people feeling it as far as South Carolina, Toronto, and Ohio. My cell phone isn't able to send out texts right now, probably because everyone in DC is trying to text.
11:31 AM PT: Some folks being allowed back into buildings now, but Pennsylvania Ave still doesn't have regular traffic going through, and lots of sirens out there still.
11:35 AM PT: Federal employees and DC government milling about Freedom Plaza:
11:54 AM PT: The earthquake damage in my office:
1:02 PM PT: Damage to the Washington Cathedral being reported:
The Washington National Cathedral, the highest building in the city, suffered damage in Tuesday's earthquake, with three pinnacles in the central tower breaking off, a spokesman said.
Richard Weinberg, director of communications at the Episcopal cathedral, said a fourth pinnacle was leaning and might also be damaged. The building's central tower, which is 30 stories high, also suffered minor structural damage.
Also, a Facebook friend has a picture of some bricks having fallen off of the Ecuadorian embassy, also cited in that article...
1:26 PM PT: Ezra Klein presents his list of the best earthquake tweets so far... here are some of my favorites:
@ModeledBehavior: “More and more scientists are questioning whether that was a real quake. It is a theory that’s out there.”
@jdickerson: “Everyone calm down. If this is an earthquake on the east coast we’re supposed to react ironically.”
@TomFornelli: “WOLF BLITZER IS ON THE PHONE WITH THE EARTHQUAKE.”
@dylanmatt: “In retrospect, I resorted to cannibalism rather fast after the earthquake.”