Long Beach Feels Earthquake Centered in Virginia

Long Beach residents felt the earth move from under them Tuesday afternoon after a reported 5.8 earthquake hit Virginia and was felt from Ohio to Washington D.C. to New York.

"About five minutes prior, our electricity flashed off and on," Stuart Osnow said about the earthquake that struck just before 2 p.m. at his political consulting office on Park Avenue. "The computers and phones went dead."

Osnow said he was in his office with two of his coworkers when one of them asked if they had felt shaking. "Then we felt shaking in this old building," Osnow said."The pictures were moving and the shells on one of the shelves were rocking. It rumbled."

Resident Judy Massey was at home on her computer and originally thought a large truck was headed down her street, or that someone was operating heavy machinery along the side of the house.

“Then I heard what sounded like a huge animal running on the roof,” Massey said. “But the shaking was unmistakable, and went on for about 40 seconds—quite a long time to wonder what was happening.”

Patty Dillion joined other Long Beach residents who commented about the earthquake in answer to a question posed on Long Beach Patch's Facebook page: "The house swayed for about 25 seconds,” Dillon wrote. “It felt like being on a ferry boat."

Michelle Kelly wrote: "Long beach was rocking! Freaky!"

Yet Glenna King, who lives on the west side of town, was unaware of any earthquake tremors. "I was home in Long Beach but didn't feel a thing," she commented. 

Michele Reinbach texted Patch from Pacific Boulevard beach that she did not feel the tremors but people in her apartment building did.

"[People] were on the phones calling others, texting, and on Twitter. I called my daughter who was home and she felt it and said the brakefront was shaking and some crystal broke."

The Long Island Rail Road said most train service was unaffected by the tremors felt in the region, but the JFK AirTrain was temporarily suspended while the tracks were inspected. Control towers at JFK and Newark Liberty airports were evacuated.

* This story was update from the original version.