Community Corner

Quake Rattles Phone Lines, Nerves

Watkins Mill High School evacuated without injuries.

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the mid-Atlantic a few minutes before 2 p.m. today, a temblor felt as far away as New Jersey and southern Virginia.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the quake at 1:51 p.m. and put the epicenter one kilometer beneath Louisa, Va. USGS reported a 2.8-magnitude aftershock just before 3 p.m.

Montgomery County officials have reported no injuries as of 3 p.m.

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Some cellular and landline phone networks have been disrupted, including the Montgomery County Police Department. The county’s 911 line is operational, but police are asking that it be used only for emergencies.

Metro trains have slowed to 15 mph while crews inspect track lines for damage. WMATA is reporting no injuries.

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Roughly 200 people—mostly teachers and staff—were evacuated from Watkins Mill High School. MCPS’s earthquake protocol calls for schools to be cleared out while officials check for damage and safety hazards.

School officials reported no injuries.

"It shook a few people up," said Assistant Principal Cary Dimmick. "We had a few teachers say it was interesting looking out the back window of the school and seeing everything shake outside—the trees moving, everything like that."

This is Metropolitan Washington’s second quake in just over a year. A 3.6-magnitude tremor—less than one-tenth the strength of today’s quake—struck five kilometers beneath Gaithersburg last July.

Maryland’s earthquake history dates back to a 30-second quake reported in Annapolis in 1758.

USGS archives list no "significant"—magnitude 3.5 or greater—Maryland-based seismic events since an 1885 quake near the Frederick County-Loudoun County border. Reports over the last few decades have come from earthquakes in neighboring states, including:

  • A 4.3-magnitude earthquake near Elgood, W. Va. in 1969
  • A 1972 tremor centered in Wilmington, Del.
  • A minor earthquake near the Delaware-New Jersey-Pennsylvania border in 1973
  • A 4.5-magnitude quake west of Richmond, Va. in 2003


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