Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake Shakes Bowie

Buildings shook, pictures fell off walls, and items fell off shelves in Bowie today as a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the city. The quake was centered about 100 miles away in Mineral, Virginia. There are no reports of any major damage in the city at this time, although Prince George's County Police have reported multiple incidents of structural damage to buildings, including one in Oxon Hill, one in National Harbor and a Target store in Forestville.

The City of Bowie sent employees home early, and closed city buildings.

Prince George's County Schools canceled Tuesday evening activities , and canceled Wednesday classes. Thirty-two public schools in the county remained closed on Thursday, including Bowie's Yorktown Elementary School.

A 3.6 magnitude quake centered in Gaithersburg, MD shook the city a little over a year ago on July 16, 2010.

Click here for the USGS information on the quake, and click here for a USGS list of recent earthquakes.

UPDATE

The following aftershocks have occurred:



Click on image for larger image

2 comments:

  1. I was in Ocean City and missed it. Got home today to find some things fallen out of my medicine cabinet

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  2. My wife and kids were in Ocean City as well. They were on an elevator at the time, and they thought they just had a really bad elevator.

    It sounds like you got out just in time. A mandatory evacuation of Ocean City is underway, and the traffic leaving O.C. is terrible.

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