UPDATE (4:35 p.m.)—An earthquake centered in Virginia on Tuesday sent tremors up and down the East Coast, including in Maryland.
The afternoon quake sent thousands of people streaming out of their company buildings and homes throughout the region and state, forcing neighbors and coworkers to stand on sidewalks and streets to share their disbelief.
No serious injuries have been reported as of 3:30 p.m., according to the Maryland State Police. But a church steeple collapse was reported in Baltimore City at the corner of Aliceanna Street and Broadway.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake issued a press release saying government workers would be assessing city bridges and government buildings for possible structural damages. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is instructing people to communicate by text or email so that emergency response personnel can communicate by cell phone.
The quake, centered 39 miles northwest of Richmond, VA, struck at 1:51 p.m., according to the United States Geological Survey. According to the USGS, it was the largest quake recorded in Virginia since 1897. An aftershock that struck at 2:46 p.m. was recorded as a magnitude 2.8, according to the USGS.
The quake was felt as far away as Toronto, CNN reports.
In Towson, county government employees were evacuated from the Old Courthouse while the fire department officials checked for a gas leak. As of 2:32 p.m., employees had returned to the building.
In Baltimore, City Hall was evacuated, according to a tweet from City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young.
Emergency operations centers are open in Baltimore City and Baltimore and Harford counties. Baltimore County has granted liberal leave to its nonessential employees. Baltimore Gas & Electric reported that all natural gas and electric systems were operating normally.
"We're monitoring and gathering information," said Elise Armacost, a Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman.
Armacost said no serious damage had yet been reported, though a Patch user in White Marsh sent us a photo from a Target store where ceiling tiles fell during the quake.
Click the button under our lead image to add your photos to this report.
Baltimore City police warned via their Twitter feed that "smaller aftershocks are a possibility. Stay calm."
Many Twitter users and Patch commenters in the region are reporting disrupted cell phone service.
Baltimore City public works spokesman told WBAL Radio that water customers should email, not call, officials about service disruptions.
The schedules of Baltimore County schools were not affected, spokesman Charlie Herndon said.
"No closings, and staff in the buildings are going through the buildings this afternoon to check for any damage that may be related to the quake," Herndon said. "We do have plans in place as part of the school system’s emergency procedures that are available to use should we experience any additional tremors."
Shortly after 4 p.m., Herndon reported that there were "reports of cracks in walls at Kenwood High School and Perry Hall High School."
He said school officials were still investigating to determine if the damage is related to the earthquake.
Gov. Martin O'Malley issued a statement that said state officials will be monitoring gas lines, water mains and other utilities that may experience problems.
“The earthquake this afternoon was an extremely unusual occurrence for us here on the East Coast," O'Malley said in the statement. "I have been briefed by members of my cabinet and public safety officials on the status of state facilities and operations. Presently, there are no reports of significant damage or incidents and we will continue to monitor the situation closely, particularly over the next 24 to 48 hours."
The Democratic governor encouraged people to check on their "loved ones" ... "particularly the elderly to make sure everyone is safe."
Most transit services are on schedule, except Metro Subway, which was briefly suspended between Mondawmin and Johns Hopkins stations, according to the Maryland Transit Administration. BWI airport is still open, but passengers should check with their airlines for any delays.
Kensington Patch reported that MARC trains have been delayed and are likely to remain behind schedule this evening.
Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce, was speaking with Patch at the moment the earthquake hit. She said Towson office workers streamed out of their buildings.
"My stuff's falling of the walls," she said. "It's not an explosion. People are running out of buildings. Oh my God, I can't believe it."
Armacost, the Baltimore County spokeswoman, felt the quake in the Public Safety Building on Joppa Road.
"I had just finished lunch, was getting up go to up to the sixth floor," she said. "It felt like the floor was moving up and down ... the strangest thing I've ever felt."
Charles Village residents came out of their homes immediately after the quake was felt in North Baltimore.
Regina Kearney, who owns two homes in the 2600 block of Calvert Street, said she could feel the shaking in her homes.
"It was very startling," Kearney said.
Bethany Henderson, who also lives in the 2600 block of Calvert Street, said she couldn't feel the quake while walking her dog Bowie.
"I walked up to 30th and back and I didn't feel anything," Henderson said.
Henderson said she just moved here a few weeks ago from the Seattle area, and said quakes are nothing new to West Coast residents.
Social media sites, including Twitter, lit up with eyewitness reports throughout the region.
Cell phone service has been impacted, and some buildings in downtown Baltimore have been evacuated. No injuries have been reported.
Bryan P. Sears, Adam Bednar and Doug Donovan contributed to this report. Stay with Patch for more.
Sean Tully
2:17 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I was sitting at my computer when the whole house (and it felt like me included) shook. It was very sudden. It was more than just a jolt. It felt like everything just sort of warped, like images in a fun house mirror.
Sue Wunderer
2:18 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Felt nothing in Hickory!
Julie Lynn
2:19 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Yay Patch - You are so much faster than the Sun!!!
Jeanne Hopkins Clancy
2:20 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
standing next to my house when the ground started shaking...held on to the house only to realize that it was shaking also
Robbin Brenk
2:22 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sitting @ the computer & the entire house was rumbling. Pictures on floor, dog & cats took cover. Really frightening.
michelle
2:23 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I work in downtown Bel Air in a 2nd story building and we swayed. Unbelieveable. My son at home Hickory did feel it too. He thought it maybe been a large truck going down 543 until he say his entertainment center shake too.
Robbin Brenk
2:25 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
If this is what the end of the world is going to feel like, I hope to be in heaven.
abc
2:26 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Very scary. Sitting at my desk in a 2 story industrial building in Baltimore Co. Of course I didn't get under my desk, I just ran down stairs to the first floor, to see if an tornado had blown in .. by then it stopped. The rumble was very loud (I'm closest to the roof). Those poor people in Japan - I hope I never have to experience an 8 magnitude.
Amy Lunday
2:27 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
We definitely felt it down here in Fells Point - it really shook our 6-story office building. My husband was home in Hunt Valley and felt it there, too. Daycare reports the kids all are safe and slept through it, so whew.
Robin
2:27 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Lying in bed and whole bed started to shake and then looked at dresser and the mirror was shaking and floor was rumbling in Forest Hill.
Amy Young
2:27 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
In Perry Hall, entire house shook for what seemed like 1 - 3 minutes. Things fell off the shelves. Thankfully my son is still sleeping (how I have no idea!)
kathy finkel
2:27 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sitting at the Bel Air Library and felt it here!
Selma Kahl
2:28 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sitting at computer and heard the rumble.
rick j
2:29 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Work at the piers and the cranes and towers were shacking.We are on closed down waiting on inspectors to check everything out
Lexa Newman
2:30 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Well, we felt it at the High School in Parkville. Everyone's fine, and we're still getting ready to welcome new students on Monday!
Paul Siegmund
2:33 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Felt it in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, was over a minute.
Brenda Burkhardt McGrain
2:37 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I sure felt it in Joppa. Everything in the house was shaking off the walls and shelves. I didn't realize how much noise they make!
Marshella Merritt
2:45 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Was on phone here in Rosedale to friend in Essex, when the kids and everyone exclaimed "what the he;;?" and both houses swayed - mine front to back, about eight to ten times. Fortunately, did not hear any cracking or other scary noises! Nothing fell off the walls, etc. Friend in Essex (closer to water) said her house shook longer than mine did - was still shaking as we got off the phone so she could find out what happened from her police officer neighbor. Then I tried to call relatives to see if they were safe and for a good twenty to thirty minutes the cell phones were dead.... makes me a little worried should a REAL disaster strike - about the fragility of our communications system (voice). Was able to connect with family and friends through the internet, though. Thankfully.
Rita Weber
2:46 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Definitely felt it in Kingsville, watching everything move around that should be standing still ... ran outside because the kids were out there and looked at the pool ... from the center of the pool, waves rippling all around ... it was weird.
Jan Biondo
2:47 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I'm home in HdG and personally didn't feel it because I was going up and down stairs at the time. My daughter was in the shower and yelled out to ask what I was doing to cause everything to shake and rattle! My neighour's car alarm went off so I said maybe it's an earthquake. My husband called to say his building (also in HdG) shook and they were evacuating the 5th floor of Harford Memorial. St. John's Towers was also evacuated as a precaution to check for gas leaks. Everyone has now been allowed back.
Sue Wunderer
2:48 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
@michelle...where in Hickory?
charles
2:49 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Is anyone having trouble with their cell phones in baltimore areas?
Tyler Waldman
2:50 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
We've been hearing—and certainly, experiencing—that.
Candy Richardson
2:49 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sitting at lunch at CCBC Essex the floor was moving. Got up and walked through the offices while the ceiling and walls joined in with the floor. Ran out very fast. All buildings evacuated for over a half hour.
charles
2:50 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I should have gotten a land line lol
leslie goldsmith
2:53 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
my son was at the Towson Mall which shook quite a bit. People screaming and pushing to get out. staying calm was not happening, which is a shame that in an emergency somone is going to get hurt unnecessarily
Susan Mary Smith
2:56 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I live in Bel Air, Maryland and had just hung up the landline phone from talking to my oldest daughter. All of a sudden I heard a LOUD bang then the china closet in my dining room shook and the cage holding my Parakeet Lady GaGa shook for about 2 minutes...it was surreal..I thought to myself " Is THIS an earthquake?"
Stewart
3:03 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
In a County Office Bldg, the entire thing swayed and the cube walls shook. Thought there was a construction accident and we got out fast.
Robert Armstrong
3:09 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Johns Hopkins Hospital was evacuated.
chickpea
3:18 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
At work in Hunt Valley, 6th floor and really felt it for about 30 seconds... very loud rumbling sound and shaking. We are still here, no evacuations. Everyone at our site lost cell service for at least 20min. although we were able to use e-mail.
Bill Lawson
3:32 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
APG buildings were evacuated for about 45 minutes. Everyone seems to have returned to work at APG now. No damage is reported.
Beth Mariella
3:32 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
sitting in my house in Perry Hall, reached out and felt the wall swaying...yelled out to my kid "whats going on?" and she said "i don't know, what was that!?" stepped outside to find my neighbors gathering and we all realized we'd just felt an earthquake. Daughter & I headed over to neighbors and watched FOX news where it was reported as a 5.8 magnitude. Crazy! I'm still feeling shaken up, no damage done and my kid just said it felt like a giant was walking up our street outside.
Elita Sohmer Clayman
3:38 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
We were in the kitchen trying to get a picture on a TV only a year old. Everything shook, the prisms on my dining room chandelier shook and sounded like church bells were ringing. The roof felt like it was moving and the trees were swaying. We thought someone had hit the house with a car here in Pikesville. Elita Sohmer Clayman
.
Kim Remesch
3:54 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I was driving Eastern Blvd., and I was convinced that something was going on with my car. I had worked out who would be dropping me off to a repair shop (in my head). I had only left my mom for 1/2 an hour who is fresh out of the hospital. When I got home she was tearing up. The china cabinet shook and she was sure she had to hold it up.
Lisa Geiger
3:55 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
For clarification - the roof did not collapse at the White Marsh Target. Some of the ceiling tiles fell out of the grid. The store is open.
Catherine Noblitt
3:58 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I was teaching a ballroom dance lesson at Atlantic Ballroom in Towson and the whole building started shaking...and kept shaking.
Tony
4:50 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
BUY the limited edition commemorative Earthquake t-shirt HERE:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SURVIVED-Virginia-Earthquake-t-shirt-VA-MD-DC-PA-/120767949215?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item61cc7f95e3
before they're sold out!!
Otis
4:58 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
"Shortly after 4 p.m., Herndon reported that there were "reports of cracks in walls at Kenwood High School and Perry Hall High School." He said school officials were still investigating to determine if the damage is related to the earthquake.
What! There are cracks in Kenwood High?!
haha - best part of the article.
allison
5:05 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sitting in our car and it felt like someone was pushing the back of it.
Nancy Jacobs
6:09 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I was at the Open Door Cafe in Bel Air when it hit. Everyone looked up from their meals looking rather startled. I had experienced an earth quake before so I knew what it was. The hanging lights were swaying back and forth. Everyone stayed calm - no one over reacted or got under tables or anything. They evacuated the state buildings in Annapolis. Evidently it made a lot of noise and a few people panicked when the alarms went off. When my assistant went back into the Senate building all of our desk drawers had slid open, pictures were all crooked and several plaques had fallen off of shelves. One of my daughters was on the phone with her sister in DE and she felt it in DE. A friend in Richmond said it felt like a helicopter had landed on their roof at work and the shaking lasted a while. My brother in CA is probably laughing at those folks on the East Coast who think this is a big deal.
Dawn Yost
9:03 am on Wednesday, August 24, 2011
We were outside in the yard when it happened in Dundalk, right near City/County line. The sidewalk beside the house jolted up like I was on one of those rides at the carnival where the floor is going up and down. Then everything shook around for what seemed like 2 or 3 minutes. Very unnerving.
Deneen Morgan-Burley
4:01 pm on Monday, September 5, 2011
I just dropped my Mom off on the sidewalk at Hibachi Grill. I went to park the car. As I opened the door to exit, it began to shake rapidly. I stepped out of the vehicle. I thought a huge truck was passing by, yet I saw nothing. As I opened the back door to retrieve my purse, both doors started shaking violently. I thought to myself, "My sister just had everything in this car repaired. What is the problem?" I second-guessed myself. I checked to see if I left the keys in the ignition. They were not there. They were inside my purse. It was then that I realized I was feeling an EARTHQUAKE underfoot. It was no big truck!
My MOM, on the other hand felt nothing. However, the ladies sitting behind the table where we were seated said, "That table and the items on it were bouncing up and down a few minutes ago."