Strong 6.0 earthquake rattles US East Coast

A major earthquake measuring about 6.0 rattled offices on Tuesday in the US capital Washington and led to panicked evacuations at the Indian embassy and in as far away as New York.

The Indian embassy, the Pentagon and the US Capitol were among the well-known buildings in Washington, DC that were evacuated.

While there was no immediate report of any casualties or damage to the buildings, there was panic among the people, with buildings shaking for several seconds, taking everyone by surprise.

The historical building where the Indian embassy is located is safe and no damage was immediately reported.

The epicenter of the earthquake was reported to be in Northern Virginia. Washington has not been used to earthquakes. As people rushed out of the building and started calling their near and dear ones, most of the phone calls dropped and communication system was initial down.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake's center was 54 kilometers (34 miles) from Richmond, Virginia, and 87 miles (139 kilometers) from Washington.

Buildings in New York City shook briefly and some were evacuated. Government buildings including City Hall were evacuated.

There are no immediate reports of damage. The tremor that lasted about a minute was felt around two in the afternoon.

Social networking site Facebook was abuzz with people writing updates about feeling the tremor. Phone lines too jammed for sometime as people tried to reach out to their friends and family to inquire about the incident.

New Jersey state police acting Lieutenant Stephen Jones said there were no immediate reports of any serious injuries in New Jersey.

Image: Workers evacuate the New York State Supreme Courthouse in New York after an earthquake strikes the East Coast of the United States

Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters