Quake felt from White House to Obama’s holiday

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.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was 800m deep and centred about 64km north-west of Richmond, the state capital of Virginia.

Tremors were felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated.