EARTHQUAKE HITS THE EAST COAST By Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photos: Getty Images, Star-Ledger
On the afternoon of August 23rd, as eyes were all focused on Hurricane Irene churning in the Atlantic and gaining ominous strength, an earthquake of 5.8 magnitude struck the East Coast of the United States. Felt as far down as the Carolinas and as far up as New York City, the ground trembled and people were fearful of what was happening. The epicenter was thought to be in Mineral, Virginia.
This is a very uncharacteristic occurrence so it caught many off guard. It automatically shut down a nuclear power plant less than 20 miles from the epicenter after it lost electricity. The quake signaled “unusual events” at 12 other nuclear facilities across the East Coast and Michigan.
In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institute suffered cracks in interior walls and some of the stones on the top of the Washington Monument were cracked. Most of the damage was relatively minor but still is being assessed. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated for a period of time until it was deemed safe to reenter.
New York City remained relatively unscathed. Buildings such as City Hall and others were initially evacuated in lower Manhattan for precautionary measures and the tremors affected a number of boroughs.
Planes, trains and subways were delayed for a bit of time as a direct result of the Earthquake.
Even though many New Yorkers were shaken by the unusual incident, it was business as usual on Wall Street. Ironically enough, the DOW had its largest gain in almost two weeks.
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