Earthquake Leaves Westminster Feeling a Little Shaky

Maryland was one of a handful of states along the East Coast that felt earthquake tremors this afternoon.

The quake, centered about nine miles southwest of Mineral, VA, struck at 1:51 p.m. The United States Geological Survey has more info on the magnitude 5.9 quake here. According to the USGS, it was the largest quake recorded in Virginia since 1897. An aftershock that struck at 2:46 p.m. was recorded as a magnitude 2.8, according to the USGS.

The quake was felt as far away as Toronto, CNN reports.

Although Carroll County residents felt the earthquake, it appears as though damage was minimal. 

As of 4 p.m. the Westminster Fire Department reported that they received no calls resulting from the earthquake. 

McDaniel College Communications Director Joyce Muller said that after the quake, the campus was checked for safety including buildings and gas lines.

"As of now there is no apparent damage. We did not feel it was necessary to evacuate. We touched base with peer mentors who are on campus and just alerted people to the fact that there could be aftershocks," Muller said. 

Jim Simpson, the media relations representative for Carroll County government said that it was "kind of a trivial event." 

"It immediately felt to me like a mild tremor. I went outside to look to make sure the building shaking wasn’t a result of a bomb or something like that," Simpson said. "We ascertained that there was no problem, nothing had been damaged and just continued with business."

Simpson said that they had been in touch with the facilities manager for the county to determine that there were no issues.

"I would characterize it as a minor thing, we all looked up and said, 'gee, was that an earthquake'," Simpson said.

The City of Westminster also appears to have sustained no damage from the quake. City Administrator Marge Wolf said that there were no problems with the waste water plant or water plant or garages. 

"We checked everything out and, knock on wood, there are not even any water leaks," Wolf said.