Unexpected Earthquake Rocks the East Coast

Residents and employees throughout Washington DC and eastern Virginia experienced one of the scariest things in their lifetimes. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter about 87 miles southwest of DC occurred in the afternoon.

Citizens dropped everything and had to evacuate their buildings immediately. Altria Group MO is headquartered in Richmond, VA, and owns multiple facilities that house nearly 6,000 employees.

Benzinga contacted representatives of the company, who stated that emergency sirens were activated soon after the natural disaster started. 40 miles northwest of the epicenter, Altria security teams ensured that employees safely evacuated to the parking lots in the event of building collapse. According to the receptionist, employees were outside for about a half hour before going back inside to continue work.

Benzinga also contacted an employee in the McLean, VA office of Capital One COF. Varun Aggarwal, a new recruit at Capital One, works in a building containing 14 floors. When the tremors started to become more violent, “people freaked out and everyone evacuated. After being outside the building for 30 minutes, people calmed down and work resumed.”

Washington DC felt the earthquake strongly as well. Benzinga talked to Nishant Surapaneni, an employee at the Advisory Board Company ABCO, which contains an office in the middle of the nation's capital. He stated that “it was a crazy experience, especially being on the 7th floor out of only 9 floors. The tremors did not lift me off the floor, but it felt like the floor under me was about to give away.” Interestingly, the building shook for less than a minute. Once again, employees evacuated to areas outside the building, but after a 20 minute period, they went back in to continue work.

Places as far as New York City experienced the harrowing earthquake too. A Benzinga analyst described as being the “scariest event in his life.” Being 20 floors up from the ground, those in the area started to scramble downstairs when they felt the vibrations. People even “filled briefcases and bags with personal items, thinking the building was going to topple in any minute.”

A 2.8 magnitude aftershock occurred about 1.5 hours after the initial quake, but it appears that no serious damage has been done. Benzinga's contacts did not report any visible damage nearby their locations during the earthquake. While reports of serious injuries have not been released as of yet, citizens across the east coast are trying to go back to normal life, whether it's back to work, school, or home.