BREAKING NEWS!!! Earthquake Strikes Eastern US

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
(I'm starting a feature here to document important events that attract the attention of major media outlets.  These exercises should help me refine my reporting skills.  This first attempt was one I was personally involved with.)

 (graphic courtesy of US Geological Survey--usgs.gov)

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck eastern parts of the United States earlier this afternoon.  The temblor, centered in the Charlottesville, Virginia region occurred at 1:52PM Eastern Daylight Time and was felt as far away as Toronto, Ontario and regions in the Midwest (this reporter felt mild shockwaves at his Ohio residence shortly after the quake was announced on MSNBC).  Washington, DC, just 90 miles northeast of the epicenter, experienced the brunt of the event and the initial jolting sent workers scurrying outside their offices to seek safety.  There were no immediate reports of any injuries or significant damage but most tourist attractions on the city's Mall were closed to perform safety inspections and two nuclear reactors near the Virginia quake zone were taken offline for precautionary reasons.


Time of posting:  3:31PM EDT 23 Aug 2011
Time of event:  1:51PM EDT 23 Aug 2011
Difference: 1 hour, 40 minutes





UPDATE: In respect to the source of my graphic, I updated my posting to reflect the use of the USGS information. 


For comparison, I'm also adding some video clips from the major television news outlets that addressed this event that same afternoon and later that evening.


NBC Nightly News:



A CBS News special report (from that afternoon):




ABC News:






CNN:


Fox News:




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