A light earthquake occurred at 20:59:14 UTC (3:59:14 EST) on Tuesday, December 9, 2003 in central Virginia. The (USGS) location is 37.6°N, 77.9°W, and the depth is shallow (less than 5 km). The USGS determined the event had a magnitude of 4.5. No serious damage or fatalities were reported. There were no reported/recorded aftershocks. Click here for the USGS information page.
This was a complex event consisting of two sub-events occurring 12 seconds apart. Slight damage (VI) at Bremo Bluff and Kents Store. Felt (V) at Columbia, Fork Union, Goochland, Oilville, Rockville and Sandy Hook; (IV) at Appomattox, Amelia Court House, Amherst, Blackstone, Bumpass, Charlottesville, Chester, Chesterfield, Colonial Heights, Cumberland, Dillwyn, Farmville, Glen Allen, Lawrenceville, Louisa, Manakin Sabot, Mechanicsville, Midlothian, Mineral, Palmyra, Petersburg, Powhatan, Richmond, Scottsville and Spotsylvania; (III) at Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, McLean, Roanoke, Staunton and Vienna. Also felt (III) at Bethesda, Rockville, and Silver Spring, Maryland, and at Rocky Mount and Winston Salem, North Carolina. Felt (II) at Chapel Hill, Greensboro, and Raleigh, North Carolina and at Washington, DC. Felt in much of Maryland and Virginia. Also felt in north-central North Carolina and a few areas of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Click here to view seismograms at nearby stations.
Click here to view the CVVA seismogram as interpreted by a contributor to fark.com.
Click here for a map and summary of Virginia seismicity. (Washington Post, 10 December 2003)
Last updated: 10 May 2004