A 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Washington, D.C. area at 5:04 AM Friday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake lasted between 5-15 seconds according to resident reports.
No deaths, injuries or damages have been reported so far.
The earthquake was centered near Gaithersburg, Maryland, about 20 miles northwest of the U.S. capital, at a depth of 3 miles, Randy Baldwin, a physicist with U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center said. Tremors were reported in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs and as far away as southern Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Many Washington-area residents woke baffled by the first earthquake in the D.C. area since a magnitude 2.0 earthquake hit in May 2008. Friday’s earthquake is much larger than the earthquakes that occassionally hit the area.
Metrorail as well as Maryland and Virginia commuter trains have had no reports of delayed or interrupted service.