Служители на съд в Ню Йорк напускат сградата, изплашени от земетресението

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Работещи в Пентагона са излезли пред сградата, след обявената евакуация

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Полицай призовава към спокойствие граждани, които са евакуирани от сграда във Вашингтон 

[Rеuters]

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Кола на пожарната във Вашингтон

[Rеuters]

Земетресение с магнитуд 5.9 по Рихтер удари източното крайбрежие на САЩ от Вирджиния до Бостън. Пентагонът и Капитолият бяха евакуирани, предаде Ройтерс.

Епицентърът на земетресението е бил в щата Вирджиния. Трусът е бил усетен сериозно във Вашингтон и Ню Йорк. CNN предаде, че въпреки сериозното разлюляване, търговията на фондовата борса не е спряла, не е била разпоредена и евакуация. 

Сериозни трусове са усетени в Ню Йорк, като са били евакуирани кметството и редица офис сгради. Пожарната в града вече е получила съобщения за нанесени щети по част от сградите в града, предаде "Ройтерс".

Летища бяха затворени, а атомни електроцентрали - спрени
Персоналът на контролните кули на летищата "Джон Ф. Кенеди" и "Нюарк" в Ню Йорк също са били евакуирани. Те ще бъдат инспектирани, преди полетите да бъдат възобновени, което би трябвало да стане до няколко часа. 

В Бостън също има опразнени сгради от изплашени хора. Високоскоростният влак "Амтрак" между Вашингтон и Балтимор беше спрян за кратко, но след това тръгна отново, като се движи с намалена скорост. Двата реактора, на намираща се в близост до епицентъра на труса малка атомна електроцентрала, са се изключили автоматично, съобщи говорителят на Комисията за контрол на ядрената енергетика Дейвид Макинтаиър.

Той добави, че за момента няма яснота дали централата е пострадала. Друга АЕЦ във Вирджиния е останала без захранване, но дизелови генератори поддържат циркулацията на водата, която охлажда реакторите. Още девет атомни централи в четири щата, също са съобщили, че е усетено земетресение, но не се е наложило спирането на реактори.

Епицентърът на труса е бил на дълбочина 6 км в Минерал, щата Вирджиния, който е на 92 мили югозападно от столицата. Офис служителите във Вашингтон излезли панически по улиците след труса.

Трусът е усетен чак в Торонто
Очевидец заявява пред "Ройтерс", че земният гърч е бил усетен дори в канадския град Торонто.

Според CNN това е най-мощното земетресение във Вирджиния от 1897 година и едва 25-тото, откакто районът е обявен за щат. Компютърна симулация на труса показва, че той е бил усетен от около 11 млн. американци. Потенциалните щети биха могли да бъдат за 10 млн. долара.

Все още няма данни за щети и пострадали.
Подробности очаквайте по-късно на www.dnevnik.bg и утре във в. "Дневник"

www.dnevnik.bg/sviat/2011/08/23/1143637_moshtno_zemetresenie_evakuira_pentagona_i_kapitoliia/


5.8-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes East Coast J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

Office workers gathered in downtown Washington on Tuesday after an earthquake shook the nation"s capital.

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake based in Virginia sent tremors from the nation’s capital to New York City and New England Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Buildings throughout major metropolitan centers in the northeast were evacuated after the quake, and tremors were felt as far north as Bath, Me., and as far south as Hampstead, N.C., with some limited reports of damage reported near the quake’s epicenter in Virginia, where a nearby nuclear power plant was taken offline. Amtrak trains were temporarily halted, and cellphone service was disrupted as calls flooded cellular systems.

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A bride ran from the courthouse in lower Manhattan on Tuesday after an earthquake struck the east coast. 

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While there were only limited reports of damage, the breadth of the quake rattled nerves along the Northeast. The streets of downtown Washington filled with thousands of people on Tuesday afternoon as buildings from the Capitol to the White House were evacuated the 1:51 p.m. quake, which lasted by varying accounts anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds.

Andre Smith-Pugh, a 25-year-old carpentry worker, was high above the Eisenhower Executive Office Building when he felt the shaking.

"It felt like the scaffolding was coming down," he said in an interview. "It felt like a big truck slammed into the side of the building right here at the White House."

He and his work crew climbed down and gathered outside the White House. None were injured, he said, but all were rattled. Reuters quoted Richard Weinberg, a spokesman for the National Cathedral in Washington, as saying “at least three pinnacles on the central tower have broken off” because of the earthquake.

Several buildings in New York City were evacuated, with employees standing in the streets in midtown Manhattan. Rumbles were reported on Twitter from places as far-flung as Martha’s Vineyard, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.

“Our townhouse started shaking a short time ago and branches started to fall off trees and hit our windows and hit our roof like crazy,” said Bill Parks of Hummelstown, Pa. “It lasted about 10 seconds and was as bad as the Northridge after shock I had experienced while visiting in California. I ran outdoors and found my neighbor calling a friend in Virginia who also felt the profound quake. This quake was like none I ever experienced in the East in my life and I am 76 years old.”

Dr. Arthur Lerner-Lam, head of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Division of Seismology, said the earthquake occurred in a part of Central Virginia that is known as an area of geologically old faults, created several hundred million years ago when the Appalachian Mountains were forming. The area has frequent small earthquakes; the largest previously recorded was one of magnitude 4.8 in 1875.

“We do expect earthquakes to occur here,” he said. “Not as frequently as in California, but this is not a surprise.” He described the Central Virginia earthquakes as “kind of a randomized reactivation of these geologically old structures” as opposed to the tremors that occur along an active fault such as the San Andreas in California.

In Mineral, Va., a town about of about 500 people located four miles from the quake’s center, residents reported extensive damage to items inside homes. China shattered and pictures fell off walls. The Virginia epicenter was just miles from a decades-old nuclear power plant, the North Anna, operated by Dominion Power in Richmond, where two reactors were taken offline, although there were no reports of damage there.

Sherry Gibson, 42, owner of Sherry’s Snip & Style in Mineral, had popped home for a few minutes when the earthquake hit.

“The whole ground just shook and shook and kept on shaking," she said. The noise was so loud, she said, that it sounded like a plane falling out of the sky. China blew out of the cabinet, and her mantel pulled away from the wall.

Some of her neighbors have cracks in their walls, she said, but she had not heard of any injuries and she said the town had not lost electricity.

The tremors were even felt in Boston, where John D. Tuerck said he felt "a discernible swaying on the 18th floor" of his office tower. He added: "Not something one expects here, for sure."

www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/us/24quake.html

Earthquake rattles Washington area

View Photo Gallery —  An earthquake centered in Virginia struck along the East Coast at 1:51 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake was reportedly 5.9 maginitude.

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Washington area Tuesday, shaking buildings and prompting office workers to pour into the streets of the capital.

The earthquake’s epicenter was nine miles south of Mineral, Va., and 87 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS initially recorded the quake at 5.8 magnitude but later upgraded it to a 5.9. It struck at 1:51 p.m. Eastern time, the USGS said. At 2.8 magnitude aftershock was reported at 2:46 p.m.

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Washington-area residents and workers crowded the streets near the White House on Tuesday following a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Virginia. (Aug. 23)

www.washingtonpost.com/earthquake-rattles-washington-area/2011/08/23/gIQATMOGZJ_story.html


Virginia earthquake rattles East Coast By the CNN Wire Staff August 23, 2011 -- Updated 2135 GMT (0535 HKT) Shock waves up and down East Coas
edition.cnn.com/2011/US/08/23/virginia.quake/index.html