California earthquake felt across Bay Area

A California earthquake measuring magnitude-3.6 was felt most strongly in the East Bay and Peninsula regions, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It was followed this morning by a 2.7 quake reported near Yorba Linda in Orange County.

But the Bay Area quake was significantly larger and felt over a larger area.

According to the USGS's Did You Feel It? map, hundreds of people signed in to report the Bay Area temblor. Many were in such cities as Oakland, San Leandro, Burlingame, Alameda, San Francisco and Castro Valley.

The quake, which struck at 11:36 p.m., appeared to be centered on the Hayward Fault about six miles south of Oakland. A magnitude-2.3 quake rolled through about five minutes later.

Doug Sovern, a reporter for KCBS 740 AM, said in a tweet: "Quick hard shake of the house here on Berkeley-Oakland border." He said the quake only lasted for two or three seconds. "Nice adrenaline boost!" he tweeted.

Earthquake Rocks U.S.

A huge earthquake hit my former state of Virginia today. I actually first got the news from a writer of ours on CleanTechnica. he lives in Queens, New York and felt it there. Sent me a follow-up email telling me it was in Virginia. I though, “Oh My! That’s a big one.” Followed very quickly by, “Oh My! I hope everyone I know in Virginia is OK.”

The USGS is currently reporting that this earthquake was a magnitude 5.8. You can see in the map here that it was in between Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia.

Apparently, the earthquake was felt about as far away as Ottawa. Pretty shocking how powerful earthquakes are.

No injuries have been reported, from what I’ve read, and two nuclear reactors in the area immediately shut off, automatically, around the time of the earthquake.

Cell phone service got jammed, though, as people feverishly tried calling family and friends. Twitter and Facebook also blew up with commentary from those experiencing it. Here’s an interesting note from @allisonkilkenny of The Nation that USA Today noticed: “Weirdest moment: Seeing the people I’m following in DC tweet ‘earthquake’ seconds before I felt it here in NYC.” I bet.

The quake was one of the largest in Virginia’s known earthquake history. The fact that it was only 0.6 miles deep is largely responsible for it’s wide range of influence.

“Central Virginia does get its share of minor earthquakes, but an earthquake of this size on the East Coast is certainly very unusual,” says seismologist Karen Fischer of Brown University.

Earthquakes Today in Washington, DC - National Weather Service Says no Tsunami Threat

The earthquake today in Washington, DC and surrounding areas has many people shaken up, but so far no serious damage or injuries have been reported. Just recently, more good news was reported, as their has been confirmation this will not bring a tsunami to the East Coast.

A report from the Associated Press indicates that the National Weather Service's West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center have weighed in on the potential for a tsunami in the aftermath. They have said due to the quake's location, centered in Virginia, "the quake was far enough inland" to set off any sort of tsunamis for the coast. According to the director of the services, Paul Whitmore, there are gauges located all up and down the East Coast, yet none of these showed any detection of a tsunami.

This is good news for those who were startled by the earthquakes today. Earthquakes were felt in various states with a part of Virginia as the center of the weather incident. The fact there will be no tsunamis following this startling event should make many families rest a bit easier tonight.