The earthquake in Virginia today jostled the upper floors of the state Capitol, prompting a brief evaculation of the century-old landmark and adjacent Legislative Office Building.
In the 4th-floor press room, chairs rocked and water in a cooler gently sloshed back and forth.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, chief of staff Tim Bannon after evacuation.
Legislative employees with offices on the 5th floor said they felt a pronounced vibration, while some of the governor’s senior staff, including chief of staff Tim Bannon, said the tremor was not discernible in their second-floor offices.
“The movement people in Connecticut felt was associated with the earthquake which originated in Virginia,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement. “Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection staff is at the Emergency Operations Center as a precaution, but at this point, there have been no reports of injury or damage.”
Malloy was driving to Stamford for a business announcement when the quake struck. He was briefed in a conference call by state emergency management officials.
In New Haven, according to the Associated Press, play stopped during a tennis tournament on the Yale campus, the New Haven Open. Police ordered an evacuation.
Scenes like those were reportedly repeated through the east Coast, where the shallow quake was felt. It initially was estimated to measure 5.8 on the Richter Scale, then revised to 5.9.