Apparently it was a 5.8.

Oh, it was a 5.9 according to USGS:

Magnitude 5.9
Date-Time

* Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 17:51:03 UTC
* Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 01:51:03 PM at epicenter

Location 37.975ðN, 77.969ðW
Depth 1 km (~0.6 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region VIRGINIA

5 km (27 miles) E of Charlottesville, Virginia
55 km (34 miles) SW of Fredericksburg, Virginia
64 km (39 miles) NW of RICHMOND, Virginia
82 km (50 miles) NNE of Farmville, Virginia

Me too. My laptop cover started moving and I had no idea what was causing it to shake, then I heard loud noises in the next room and found things shaking crazily. I had to remove what was sitting on to of an old desktop monitor thinking it would fall and crash.

My walls were loud like something was inside them. I was freaked out thinking it was a ghost as it never dawned on me that it was an earthquake until I turned on the TV. Now that was scary and a first time experience. (I'm outside of Philly).

Sure hope Sue_VA, Wanda VA, Williamsburgjane and KT'ers are all safe.

They just broke in on ABC with news of it and Diane Sawyer said she felt it in her office.

Welcome to my world. :-)

jodi in so calif

lol at Jodi......same here
Rita.......in so calif.........

Yep, I'm outside of Philly, too. I have French doors between my LR and sun porch. They were visibly shaking and rattling. Called my DH--he thought something was wrong with his car and pulled over, and after he turned off the engine, realized it wasn't the car. My daughter's Cherry Hill office all ran outside (hope none of the patients were having their glaucoma tests at just that moment!

Glad we don't live any closer, that was shaky enough!

felt it here win western PA

I was driving across the Burlington Bristol Bridge from PA into NJ and couldn't figure out why the bridge seemed to sway. I don't think it was but that was the sensation inside the car. It was over so quickly I almost thought I imagined it.

Just a few miles outside of Philadelphia, and I felt nothing.
But...I was sitting here in the rec room, which is half underground, and I thought I heard DH moving around upstairs(sound of creaking floorboards).
Since I was alone in the house, I went upstairs to check...no one there, nothing amiss - then went all over the house checking for an intruder. All clear, so I just went back downstairs. The TV was on, and then saw a news alert on the screen.

Okay, I've been in a few quakes, and this was nothing like the one in Orange county I was in that was a 6.0.

It was felt here in Southern Ontario as well. I didn't feel it but there was a strange noise about that time and the dog was barking at nothing. We felt one a few years back. Strange feeling left me kind of nausea.

That was not fun!!! But we are OK, and no damage.

You couldn't GIVE me a house in California, or other earthquake-prone area.

I was with customers in the showroom when a display of cabinet doors started to rattle. I thought, wow that is weird. Often our building will vibrate when large trucks go by, but this was different.

I'm 45 miles east of NYC.

I have confirmations from assoc. in NYC, Chicago and Boston. that they all felt it.

That was my first earthquake!

Glad everyone is ok.

Earthquake was felt in Windsor and Detroit too.

Anne

Now in ND from CA--like others say--Welcome to our world. But be aware sometime there are little ones and few days later a bit bigger. All of you should go to be prepared for Earthquake and learn to tie things down. DO NOT RUN outside, stand in doorways, if it is bad, make sure your gas and electric is turned off etc.

Like Mush, I live in Ontario and felt it!!!!
I was sitting in my chair posting something here and the darned thing swayed a bit! I looked outside at sunny skies and a breeze, and I thought that there was no storm brewing or anything.

When I read Azzalia's post, I wondered if it could be possible that I felt it. If that is what I did feel, and I'm convinced what kind of damage was done in Virginia???

Goderich, which is a small, very picturesque town on Lake Huron was hit by a tornado on Sunday and it's in ruins. Terrible.

Local news reports tremors felt in parts of AL, today.

I'm near Buffalo, and for some reason I didn't hear or feel it. I was sitting in the same spot as the last time it happened, and I sure felt that one! Other people in town felt it though...

Checking in.

I am 50 some miles from Mineral,VA where it hit.

I happened to be sitting in my recliner, deleting some TV programs that I had recorded, and suddenly the recliner starting shaking very hard. That was it. Within minutes my DD called to tell me what it was.

Haven't heard of any damage here so far.

The worst thing I have heard is that there was some damage to the National Cathedral in D.C.

Sue

I was sitting in my kitchen in Long Island NY. My leg started shaking, thought it was a muscle twitch, then I started to hear glass rattling and a hanging basket was swaying. Seemed like when a truck drives by, but lasted longer. Suddenly dawned on me it was an earthquake, apparently about 0.0002 here. On the news within ten minutes. My daughter thought her cat was stuck in the closet and scratching to get out. Probably freaked our pets. No biggie here that's for sure.

Glad you're okay Sue and Wanda. Hope the damage was minimal in your areas.

We were sitting down for lunch after golf when my friend Pat said to the waitress, why is the floor moving? I didn't feel anything then but all of a sudden it was yikes....I'm out of here. They did ask us to go outside for a few minutes. Yes, it was scary. I know what caused it though. For the first time in years, DH decided to stay for lunch after he finished golf. That's enough to get the earth to move!!

We were sitting in a booth at our favorite Mexican rest. having chips and salsa. The booth started shaking and everybody in the rest was looking at one another. Hubby thought it was a train going by, but of all the trains that go by behind the resturant have never felt the rest. shake like that. Within 10 minutes after, all the TVs in the rest were showing that it had been an earth quake.The servers in the front said the lamps were swinging too. I was too scared to look at the lamps! Don't want to go thru that again.:o) Everyone here is ok that I know of. Cell phone is finally back on now too.

Jasdip, I read that earthquakes in the East are felt over a wider area than in the West because the Eastern surface of the ground is not fractured the way the West Coast's is, so the shockwaves are able to travel further.

This quake was 45 seconds - a pretty long one (sez this southern Californian). Scary, I know, & I'm glad you're all okay.

Kathleen -they said the same thing on the Philly news about why the shockwaves travel further in the east. They also said that the east coast ground is older, colder and has more bedrock than the west coast.

I felt it here in south central PA. I'm 90 mi. w. of Harrisburg. I also thought it was a truck, or a fighter jet. They fly through here on a routine basis and they rock my house!

I thought I was having vertigo at first, lol. My first earthquake also. That's good enough for me. I also wouldn't take a house in CA if it was given to me. Or Florida, or anywhere in tornado alley.

Glad everyone is o.k.

DH had clothes in the dryer. I was sitting on the couch watching hurricane update when the shaking started. DH and I looked at each other and then he went and turned the dryer off. I thought he had started the washer and it was off balance. Hanging plants were swaying.

My silly dogs didn't seem to notice anything. They must have thought it was the washer, too. We all know how men do laundry. LOL

Like Jodi and Marie said,Welcome to our world.

Wanda in va,earthquakes can happen anywhere and do.It's just a matter of how often and how strong and whether states are prepared for them.

Here in S.Calif a lot of our structures have been retrofitted to withstand a certain strength.

I called my sisters in Goshen NY and she didn't feel it,however my sister in warwick NY did feel it.

I watched a special on the history channel a few weeks ago,and they swear that with all their exploring that the next BIG earth quake will be in Seattle.Very interesting show,if you ever get a chance to see it,do so.
Kathi

I live 6 miles outside of Washington, DC in Virginia and was IRONING and grabbed the curtains when the floor rumbled and I pulled down the whole curtain assembly. I should not have been IRONING is what I get from this.

You are right, Ellie!

I'm in western PA and we felt it too, I looked at one of my cats who was sleeping on a chair in my office, he looked around then rolled over and went back to sleep. My employer's office is in DC, one of them is in LA right now the other headed home to be with his hysterical wife. The one in LA said that I must be confused....HE'S the one in LA!!

A lot of the large office buildings in CA are built on rollers, ours is and so was the company I worked for. You still feel the shaking but the building just sways and takes the shock like a champ.

I was trying on jeans at Salvation Army this afternoon (in northeast PA) when I overheard people talking about feeling the earthquake in a nearby restaurant. Lights swinging from the ceiling, etc. I had lunch in a restaurant about three blocks away, and we didn't feel it there.

Got a phone call this afternoon from one of my Des Arc buddies. She is visiting her daughter in NJ. Said that she, her daughter and grandson were on a bus going from NJ into the city when the earthquake was felt there. She said that she heard it more than felt it on the bus. We were at least glad that she wasn't in the tunnel! LOL

I was in my bedroom putting clothes away when the whole house shook. Since we have major pain in the azz construction going on ALL summer, I thought it was the water company guys. When I went on Facebook I realized I was in an earthquake..the third biggest one ever on the east coast going back to the 1800's. Glad I don't live in CA.

In Northern Virginia, it felt terrifying. The townhouse shook viciously -- really frightening. Not just some "swaying" (as what I understand office workers in D.C. felt; they got off easy, if that's so). It took me most of the rumbling time to realize it was an earthquake -- never been in one, never been taught what to do, what not to do. Grabbed the dog (after I found her) and went out to where other neighbors were talking.

Wednesday morning's task: Cleaning up a lot of broken picture-frame glass on the top floor of the townhouse and in the guest bedroom. And some walls now have a few pretty ugly (but smallish) gouges in them.

I don't ever want to go through that again.

After, it made me think of the "what if" postings -- If you had 10 minutes to flee your home, what would you grab?
Turns out I grabbed only the dog. Left my purse, left my cell, left my car keys, left my laptop (tho an external HD is elsewhere), left my "memory bag" (sentimental paper things and jewelry from when I was growing up -- something I always thought would be the 2nd thing I grabbed), left my "good" jewelry, left all form of ID, checkbook. Yes, some of the ID stuff is in a box at the bank, but I'm not at all sure I'd have been able to convince them that I am me!

I'm late commenting - another displaced Californian. Been through several there, but here in eastern upstate NY this was a first. I was sitting in my swivel rocker and it rocked sideways, just a little, but certainly enough that I took notice!! My worst in CA was the Loma Prieta (SF) earthquake in 1989. I was working in Beverly Hills and there was no gentle rocking - It was like a wrecking ball hitting the building. Hard not to notice that one!!

Kathi - I try to watch all of those programs. They shed so much light on a fascinating subject.

I was 16 floors up - I felt it! I got downstairs as fast as I could expecting to meet Dan outside (his daycare is on the 1st floor) but they weren't there. They never evacuated. I ran back up and evacuated him myself.

I'm in Norfolk and my dog started barking about 10 seconds before it hit. This was a surprisingly strong earthquake. Our house shook so hard the TV started swaying back and forth dramatically, and I thought it was going to topple for sure.

Our ceilings have a few new plaster cracks, which is a pity, and as someone else said, the sound was the most haunting. You could hear the doors banging in their frames and the windows creaking from the stress.

Really strange.

Dover, DE here. I had been stationed in CA a number of years ago and when I felt floor shake at local KMart knew what it was. Manager was very smart and was going around getting everyone to move to the front of the store.

Kathi mdgd you mentioned about the history channel. The weather channel also had a story about earthquakes and where they may hit in the future. Seems there's another lesser known fault in Missouri or in that area that could possibly cause a quake in the future.

Best advice I got when I was in CA is not to panic and to take cover.

Rosemary, I'm glad to see you check in--we were worried about you.

I didn't realize there were so many KTers in this area! I'm about 60 miles west of DC. My friends thought I was crazy when I got earthquake insurance--maybe they will understand now. Fortunately, I didn't need it this time, but this is a warning that we are not absolutely safe from earthquakes.

Just one tip-if you ever have to evacuate, take some cash with you. Don't bother with cellphones. We lost service around here yesterday (Long Island NY) because everyone was making calls all at once. Oh, I'd definitely take my pets. I have a leash for the dog, maybe I'd lock the cat in my car, if I could get her that far. She hates being picked up. But take cash, cause you never know if ATMs will work. After Hurricane Gloria in 1985, my local grocery brought products outside and sold everything for multiples of one dollar. We needed to buy toilet paper. We returned to our home, even tho we had no electricity for 3 days. All our refrigerated and frozen food ended up spoiling. Speaking of which, Hurricane Irene may be heading my way by the weekend. Earthquakes and Hurricanes-it must be The End of the World.

Another Southern Californian here. I'll take an earthquake over a tornado any day.

No shakin' goin' on here.

DH and I felt a 3.2 on Big Island of Hawaii one year. There was just one big JOLT. I immediately thought the house's water heater had exploded -- but they don't have gas water heaters there. Went next door to where two couples were calmly playing cards on the lanai. "What was THAT," I asked. They said, "What? Oh, you mean that litte quake?"

When I heard the Virginia quake registered 5.9 I expected there would be a LOT more damage. Guess not. Too bad Congress is in recess; they need a good jolt.

I heard on the radio that many Californians are mocking the East Coast folks for making a big deal out of it, something that the West Coast experiences frequently. Well, I want to hear from those same folks when they get an inch of snow! We in many parts of the rest of the country take many more inches of snow than that (feet?) in stride, but those making fun now would be shut completely down. Haha! Turn-around is fair play, right?

It's all in what you're used to and what you and the infrastructure are prepared to deal with.

As long as there's a remnant of ice in your frozen food, you can use it.

I don't know about re-freezing (for a long term ... but I'd refreeze for a few days, say, a week or two, until we could get that food used).

Good time to have a big family dinner (including extensions) ... or a few, serially.

I was suggesting to folks after the wind and rain, that shut off the power to several million, that it'sd be a good idea for people with freezers to have three or four go tgether to buy a generator.

ole joyful