Earthquake hits US east coast

The Pentagon and US Capitol Building in Washington were evacuated, as have the control towers at JFK and Newark airport, causing flights to be delayed.

But there were no reports of major damage or injuries from the 5.8 magnitude quake, which was centered in Mineral, Virginia

Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna power plant in Virginia shut down after the plant lost power, but the company that runs them said there was no major damage. The reactors will remain shut until they can be safely restarted.

The local Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the earthquake knocked out power, but the utility manually shut down both nuclear units without incident.

“We did lose on-site power, but all the diesel generators are up and running,” Dominion spokesman Richard Zuercher said 30 minutes after the quake. “Everything appears to be operating just fine.”

A spokesman for Entergy, the company which operates several nuclear power stations across the US, said Indian Point nuclear plant near New York City is still operating after the quake.

Fire and emergency services in Washington DC said via Twitter that they had had many calls but no initial reports of injuries from the quake.

There are reports some buildings in New York have also been cleared.

Reuters reporter Anthony De Rosa tweeted: “Kind of surreal to be in a newsroom during an earthquake. Reports coming in from all over, while we’re feeling it right here.”

The tremor was felt as far away as Toronto in Canada.