Virginia Earthquake
Employees of Inter-American Development Bank gather around in the median of New York Avenue in Washington, D.C. REUTERS

A massive earthquake rocked the Mid-Atlantic Tuesday afternoon, shaking areas from North Carolina to Ottawa, Canada. The earthquake's center was northwest of Richmond, Va., and rocked much of Washington, D.C.

Countless workers in New York City voluntarily evacuated their office buildings, contributing to the growing inability to make a phone call. Confusion penetrated the air as New Yorkers asked one another, Did you feel that?

Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint said that their networks became congested in the minutes and hours after the earthquake.

The earthquake hit at about 1:51 p.m. ET and measured a preliminary 5.9 on the Richter scale, the United States Geological Survey reported.

The USGS warned of aftershocks, causing office workers to linger in the streets.

Witnesses said that a growing rumble rattled windows and old New York City buildings.

It scared the heck out of me. I'm still shaking,'' spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation Joan Morris told USA Today.

No injuries have been reported. Federal officials said that two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Va. were taken off line in order to avoid a nuclear catastrophe similar to the one at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, when a massive earthquake and tsunami dropped the nation to its knees March 11.

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