5.8 MAGNITUDE QUAKE REPORTED
NORTHWEST  OF  RICHMOND, VA.

Homes and buildings in the city shake
for nearly a minute just before 2 p.m.

Baltimore was shaken Tuesday afternoon by an earthquake of 5.8 magnitude that struck in Mineral, Va., about 35 miles northwest of Richmond, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Tremors from the quake could be felt from Georgia as far north as Massachusetts at 1:51 p.m., the agency said.

In downtown Baltimore, people raced from office buildings onto the street, fearing the worst — which, according to all accounts, never happened.

“Hundreds of people left their buildings,” said John R. Seifert Jr., who was in a restaurant in the 300 block of North Charles Street when the earthquake hit.

“People could be seen standing around on the street for at least a half hour following the tremors,” he said.

Baltimore Police and Fire Department personnel offered assurances that no injuries had been reported and that there were no immediate indications of major damage.

From his vantage point after leaving David and Dad’s Café when he felt the building shake, Seifert said that as he walked up the street he observed “60-70 people standing outside most office buildings” and that “cellphones weren’t working in the minutes immediately following the quake.”

Minor damage was reported in other parts of the state including Annapolis, where the quake reportedly shook plaster from some of the ceilings in the State House.

— Alan Z. Forman

alforman@voiceofbaltimore.org