Colorado Earthquake Has No Correlation with Virginia Earthquake

The USGS has said there is no correlation between the earthquake that rocked the East Coast from Raleigh to New York and the one that hit Colorado.

An area between Richmond and Charlottesville in Virginia was hit with a 5.9 magnitude earthquake at 1:51 p.m. on Tuesday.

Early Tuesday morning, Colorado was hit by a similarly sized earthquake - a 5.7 magnitude. The Colorado earthquake was the strongest to hit the state since 1973.

In Colorado, Raton, Colorado Springs, and La Junta were among the most impacted areas. While the earthquake is the most severe to hit Colorado in decades, there has been no major destruction or major injuries, according to reports. There was some minor damage near the epicenter.

The Virginia earthquake sent shakes that went as far north as Toronto and as far west as Ohio. Residents of New York, Washington D.C., and other cities took to Twitter and other social media platforms to discuss the earthquake.

The earthquake is the largest to ever hit the D.C. area, bettering a previous high of 3.6. The area was experiencing major issues with phone communications as systems were overwhelmed.

Additionally, multiple buildings in Washington, D.C. that were evacuated, including the FDA and U.S. Capitol buildings. Fox News reported that the Washington Monument may be tilting after the earthquake, but Yahoo News' Chris Moody reported that he did not notice the monument moving.

There is an average annually of 1300 earthquakes in the United States between 5.0 and 5.9 magnitudes, according to the USGS. Additionally there are several million earthquakes worldwide every year.