Earthquake Rattles Farmville Area

Published 3:05 pm Tuesday, August 23, 2011

FARMVILLE – An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter Scale, according to magnitude readings by the USGS, shook Farmville and other Virginia localities at 1:51 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

The earthquake was felt up the East Coast as far north as New York City and New Hampshire, according to the New York Times website, with President Obama reportedly feeling it on Martha's Vineyard.

The quake was felt southward to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, according to a Facebook communication with a Herald staffer, and even into South Carolina, according to the USGS.

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Lasting approximately a minute, the earthquake shook furniture in Farmville, demonstrably in upper stories of buildings, and rattled nerves.

The quake was felt across central Virginia, with its epicenter near Mineral, Virginia, according to the USGS, and was simultaneously experienced in Lynchburg and Buckingham, witnesses told The Herald, and was reported in the nation's capitol.

No injuries have been reported.