Virginia Earthquake 2011 Increases Anxiety, Aftershocks to Come?

The 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Virginia Tuesday, centered 300 miles from New York City, occurred at a shallow depth in the crust, implying considerable aftershocks. The massive earthquake shook areas from North Carolina to Ottawa, Canada.

New York's emergency alert system told residents at 2:12 p.m. Eastern, This is an ACTUAL EARTHQUAKE ALERT. The United States Geological Service confirmed the event.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint said that networks were congested because massive amounts of people were making phone calls.

There were no reports of injuries and initial reports of damages were marginal. When a JetBlue terminal at JFK airport in New York began to rumble, anxiety flooded attendants and passengers and flights were delayed.

Spokesman for Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Jeff Caldwell told the Los Angeles Times, Yes, we felt it here. It shook for about 15 seconds and was very noticeable. There is no major damage reported here at the state Capitol, but it has certainly jolted folks here in Virginia where we are not used to earthquakes such as this.

Washington D.C. evacuated its staff, sounding alarms and flashing lights. A water pipe broke in the Pentagon, where two corridors became flooded.

Structural damage including chimneys falling was reported in Louisa County, Va. and Mineral, Va.

Nuclear reactors at the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station were automatically shut down in an attempt to avoid the nuclear catastrophe suffered by Japan after an unprecedented earthquake and tsunami shook the nation March 2011.