Earthquake hits Virgina, aftershocks felt at SU
The epicenter of the earthquake was in Mineral, Va., according to an article on The Washington Post’s website Tuesday. Mineral, Va., is 87 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., and about 469 miles south of Syracuse.
The fifth floor of the E.S. Bird Library was evacuated by students and faculty. Librarian Marty Hanson was working in her office on the fifth floor when she felt the tremors.
‘I thought I was getting dizzy,’ Hanson said. ‘I got up, walked out and saw other people looking around. Then, we could see the stacks [of books] swaying. It was like a ripple feeling.’
None of the other floors in the library evacuated or reported feeling any tremors.
Students on the fourth floor of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications felt the aftershocks and stopped an instructional assistant training class for a few minutes to talk about what they felt before resuming class.
‘I didn’t think it was an earthquake,’ said Zack Zollars, a graduate student in the class. ‘I actually thought someone was kicking my chair.’
Members of the campus community posted on Twitter shortly after the quake happened that they felt the tremors elsewhere on campus.
Some Department of Public Safety officers felt the aftershocks, but there were no reports of any disruptions on campus, said Jennifer Horvath, DPS public information officer.
There have been no reports of damage to buildings, bridges, roads or any other infrastructure, according to a news release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The State Office of Emergency Management will continue to monitor the effects throughout the afternoon.
–Asst. news editor Liz Sawyer contributed reporting to this article.
Published on August 22, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani