A 5.9 MAGNITUDE earthquake centred in Virginia yesterday forced evacuations of all the monuments in Washington and rattled nerves from the southern state of Georgia to Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island in the northeast where President Barack Obama is vacationing. No injuries were immediately reported.

NUMBERS were down for big GAA championship games over the weekend, with just over 15,000 in Thurles for the Limerick-Waterford Munster SHC replay and Galway-Kilkenny failing to fill Tullamore’s O’Connor Park for an eagerly-anticipated clash.