It’s a perfectly clear and fall-like weekday afternoon in seismically quiescent DC, so when all of sudden our office on Capitol Hill — on the top (6th) floor of an old masonry building lurched unsettlingly — I assumed it was the demolition work going on next door. As those of us in the office gathered to figure out what it was, another shaking occurred which made me think maybe there was an explosion in the area, although there was nothing audible other than the building itself moving.
Bear in mind, at this point, maybe 15 seconds has elapsed. Then the building lurched violently, building up to such a crescendo that you had to grab the wall or furniture to keep your balance. At that point the thought of an earthquake crossed my mind, but it still seemed fantastical to consider.
It wasn’t until we saw other people on our floor heading toward the stairs and got out on the sidewalk to see people streaming out of other buildings on the street that the possibility it was an earthquake seemed even remotely plausible.
Everyone seems more bemused and puzzled than scared. But I’ll admit I was a bit scared. If I had been in California, I’d have been mentally prepared. But this was a jolt from out of the blue. Our reporters are checking in with damage reports from across DC. We’ll bring you more as we know it. You can follow regular updates here.
