Earthquake Rattles Virginia and East Coast

SECOND UPDATE: I spoke with my sister in Charlottesville who was in a older portion of the UVA Medical Center Complex when the earthquake struck. She's fine but she said the shaking was very pronounced and that they have felt some after shocks in Charlottesville.

UPDATED: There seems to have been some building damage in Louisa County near the earthquake epicenter. More frightening, the North Anna nuclear plant not far from the epicenter lost power and had to be taken off line. It remains off line as inspections continue. The photo at the bottom of this post shows a seismography from Washington & Lee University and the recording of the quake.

It's not normal to experience earthquakes here in Virginia, but we just had one a few minutes ago. The boyfriend called and said the salon building shook as did the office for the law firm. I even received a call from a client in Manhattan who was checking on us after she felt the quake in her high rise office. Here's what Weather Channel just reported:

An earthquake has rattled Virginia and the Washington D.C. area, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was centered in Virginia about 87 miles Southwest of Washington D.C. and more than 30 miles west of Richmond. It measured 5.9 on the Richter scale and reports say it was felt as far north at New York.

I haven't reached siblings in Charlottesville which was about 35 miles from the epicenter as yet. Given what we felt down here in Tidewater it must have been more intense closer by.