Earthquake tremors shakes Richmond campus, students

Shockwaves from a 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered in Mineral, Va., struck the University of Richmond Tuesday afternoon and other areas of the East Coast, causing tremors that scattered Richmond faculty and students out of buildings.

The earthquake, which was a magnitude-5.8, was felt a little before 2 p.m. and lasted for about 20 seconds. Its epicenter in Mineral, Va., is about 38 miles from Richmond.

The effects of the earthquake were felt along the Eastern Seaboard, from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

No reports of damages or injuries have been reported. The shocks surprised many people on campus.

"The room began to shake, and I said to myself 'This can't be, this is Virginia," said Lorena Bolanos, a junior who was in Richmond Hall and on the computer when she began to feel the earthquake. Bolanos was particularly traumatized when she suspected the shaking was indicative of an earthquake.

"I have a phobia of earthquakes," she said.

In 2001, Bolanos was 11 and lived in El Salvador when a large earthquake struck. She said she never got used to the aftershocks in the region like others, and they continued to frighten her. By the time she had gotten outside of the building, she said she was in tears.

Andrew Cook, a junior, was in a class about economies in developing nations in the Robins School of Business during the earthquake. Ironically, he said the class was discussing how natural disasters influence economies moments before the earthquake shook the room.

"We all got under the desks and waited," he said.

At the Modlin Center, freshman TJ McDaniel said he saw dust and a piece of metal fall from the roof when his art class evacuated. He said the instructor was reviewing the syllabus during the class' first meeting this semester. "I thought it was a helicopter outside because of the shaking," he said.

Less than an hour after the earthquake the university issued an alert, ordering those on campus to evacuate buildings should any additional tremors happen. The alert also acknowledged a strain on the availability of cell phone coverage.

Media relations director, Brian Eckert, said a smaller earthquake about six or seven years ago had happened on campus around lunchtime.

"That was very different in quality, that earthquake was like one sharp kind of bang," he said. "This one was like real shaking." The shocks of Tuesday's earthquake were rare to many in the Virginia area. It broke the record as the largest in the state since a 5.8 magnitude quake in 1875.

Eckhert said may need to use emergency alerts again with predictions of Hurricane Irene as a major threat to the eastern United States. This earthquake, which seemed to have caused no serious damage, was good practice for the emergency communications system, Eckert said.

Contact staff writers Andrew Prezioso at andrew.prezioso@richmond.edu and Keon Monroe at keon.monroe@richmond.edu