Earthquake rocks east coast, maybe even Martha's Vineyard

A rare, large-magnitude earthquake was felt for hundreds of miles up and down the east coast this afternoon. Rated at 5.9 on the Richter scale, the quake was centered near Mineral, Va., about 100 miles south of Washington, D.C. Its locus was almost five miles underground (link).

The quake was felt strongly in the capital and most federal buildings there have been evacuated for the day. There is one report that the National Park Service is concerned that the Washington Monument was tilted by the shock. The two airports serving the capital have had all flights suspended and their towers evacuated. Flight operations as far away as New York's JFK International Airport were also suspended for a short time.

The question on everyone's mind, however, is this: Was the earthquake felt in Martha's Vineyard? And will Michelle let her husband suspend their vacation to return to duty in Washington?

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of Lifestyles of the High and Disconnected!
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Note: my son emailed from Winston-Salem, NC, and said the tremor there was strong. My eldest is in NYC and I am awaiting word from him. Fortunately, news shows report no injuries in NYC and most things there seem to be returning to normal.

Update: Turns out that Googling for earthquake Martha's Vineyard is going on a lot, and as I type this, this post is in second place on the results page.

Jeepers....

Update: Time Magazine just picked up on my April 2009 post, "New Madrid earthquake risk downgraded." Time's link to my post is in the piece's penultimate sentence.