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ഭൂകമ്പം: ക്യാപിറ്റോള്‍ മന്ദിരത്തിന്‌ കേട്‌; ട്രെയിന്‍ വ്യോമ ഗതാഗതം തടസ്സപ്പെട്ടു

ജോര്‍ജ്‌ തുമ്പയില്‍; Moideen Puthenchira Published on 24 August, 2011
ഭൂകമ്പം: ക്യാപിറ്റോള്‍ മന്ദിരത്തിന്‌ കേട്‌; ട്രെയിന്‍ വ്യോമ ഗതാഗതം തടസ്സപ്പെട്ടു

ന്യൂജേഴ്‌സി: അമേരിക്ക മുഴുവന്‍ അനുഭവപ്പെട്ട ഭൂമികുലുക്കം ജനങ്ങളെ ഭീതിയിലാഴ്‌ത്തി. ന്യൂയോര്‍ക്ക്‌ സമയം ഉച്ചകഴിഞ്ഞ്‌ 1.58-നാണ്‌ റിക്‌ടര്‍ സ്‌കെയിലില്‍ 5.8 രേഖപ്പെടുത്തിയ ഭൂമികുലുക്കമുണ്ടായത്‌. വിര്‍ജീനിയ എപ്പിസെന്റര്‍ ആയി രൂപപ്പെട്ട ഭൂമികുലുക്കം സിയാറ്റില്‍, ടൊറന്റോ, ന്യൂയോര്‍ക്ക്‌, കരോളിന എന്നീ സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങളില്‍ അനുഭവപ്പെട്ടു.

പ്രസിഡന്റ്‌ ബരാക്‌ ഒബാമ അവധിക്കാലം ചെലവഴിക്കാന്‍ എത്തിയിരുന്ന മാസച്ചുസെറ്റ്‌സിലെ മാര്‍ത്താസ്‌ വൈന്‍ചാര്‍സിലും ഭൂമികുലുക്കം അഭുഭവപ്പെട്ടതായി വൈറ്റ്‌ഹൗസ്‌ വൃത്തങ്ങള്‍ അറിയിച്ചു. തുടര്‍ന്ന്‌ വൈറ്റ്‌ഹൗസും പെന്റഗണും ഒഴിപ്പിച്ചു. ജനങ്ങള്‍ തെരുവിലേക്ക്‌ ഓടിയിറങ്ങി. ഭീകരാക്രമണം എന്നു കരുതി ജനങ്ങള്‍ പരിഭ്രാന്തിയിലായി. തുടരെത്തുടരെയുണ്ടാകുന്ന ഭീകരാക്രമണത്തിന്റെ പശ്ചാത്തലത്തില്‍ കെട്ടിടങ്ങളുടെ നേരെ ആക്രമുണ്ടാകുമെന്ന്‌ ജനങ്ങള്‍ ഭയന്നു. ന്യൂയോര്‍ക്ക്‌ സിറ്റിയിലെ സെല്‍ഫോണ്‍ സൗകര്യങ്ങളെല്ലാം താറുമാറായി.

മന്‍ഹട്ടനിലെ സ്റ്റേറ്റ്‌ ബാങ്ക്‌ ഓഫ്‌ ഇന്ത്യയില്‍ ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥനായ ജോസഫ്‌ മാത്യു കുറ്റോലമറ്റം ഭൂമികുലുക്കത്തെപ്പറ്റി പ്രതികരിച്ചു: `കെട്ടിടം ഒന്നു കുലുങ്ങിയതായി തോന്നി'. ന്യൂജേഴ്‌സിയിലെ ന്യൂമില്‍ഫോര്‍ഡില്‍ താമസിക്കുന്ന കെയര്‍വേയ്‌സ്‌ ട്രാവല്‍സ്‌ ഉടമ പി.ടി. ചാക്കോയ്‌ക്ക്‌ ഭൂമികുലുക്കം അനുഭവപ്പെട്ടു. `കംപ്യൂട്ടറില്‍ വാര്‍ത്തകള്‍ വായിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരുന്ന സമയത്ത്‌ ആരോ കസേരയില്‍ പിടിച്ചു കുലുക്കുന്നതായിട്ടാണ്‌ തോന്നിയത്‌. പിന്നീട്‌ ടിവിയില്‍ വാര്‍ത്തകണ്ടപ്പോഴാണ്‌ ഭൂമികുലുക്കമെന്ന്‌ മനസ്സിലായത്‌' അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു. ഗാര്‍ഡന്‍ സ്റ്റേറ്റ്‌ പാര്‍ക്ക്‌ വേയിലൂടെ എഡിസണില്‍ ചെന്നിറങ്ങിയ സമയത്താണ്‌ തനിക്ക്‌ ഭൂമികുലുക്കം അനുഭവപ്പെട്ടതെന്ന്‌ മുന്‍ ഫോമാ ജനറല്‍ സെക്രട്ടറി അനിയന്‍ ജോര്‍ജ്‌ പറഞ്ഞു. `ചെറാതായൊന്ന്‌ തലകറങ്ങുന്നതുപോലെ തന്നോ. അത്രമാത്രം.' അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു.

വിര്‍ജീനിയയില്‍ ഇന്ന്‌ അനുഭവപ്പെട്ട ഭൂമികുലുക്കത്തിന്റെ ആഘാതം ന്യൂയോര്‍ക്കിന്റെ തലസ്ഥാനമായ ആല്‍ബനിയിലും അനുഭവപ്പെട്ടു. ഉച്ചകഴിഞ്ഞ്‌ രണ്ടു മണിയോടെ ആല്‍ബനിയിലെ 42 നില കെട്ടിടമായ കോണിംഗ്‌ ടവറിന്റെ ഇരുപത്തിയൊമ്പതാം നിലയില്‍ ഇരിക്കുമ്പോഴാണ്‌ ഞാന്‍ കുലുങ്ങിയത്‌.

പല സ്ഥലങ്ങളും കെട്ടിടങ്ങള്‍ ആടിയുലഞ്ഞതായാണ്‌ റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ടുകള്‍യ സാധാരണ ഇങ്ങനെയുള്ള എമര്‍ജന്‍സിയില്‍ സ്റ്റേറ്റ്‌ പോലീസിന്റെ അനൗണ്‍സ്‌മെന്റും ബില്‍ഡിംഗ്‌ ഒഴിപ്പിക്കലുമൊക്കെ നടക്കാറുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ഇത്തവണ അതുണ്ടാകാതിരുന്നതുകൊണ്ട്‌ എല്ലാവരും അല്‌പം ഭയക്കുകയും ചെയ്‌തു. എന്നാല്‍ ആളപായമോ മറ്റ്‌ നാശനഷ്‌ടങ്ങളോ റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ട്‌ ചെയ്‌തിട്ടില്ല.

EARTHQUAKE RATTLES VIRGINIA

2:35 p.m. - National update

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt as far north as Rhode Island, New York City and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where President Barack Obama is vacationing.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile deep. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

It was centered near Louisa, Va., which is northwest of Richmond and south of Washington.

Obama and many of the nation's leaders were out of town on August vacation when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. EDT. The shaking was felt on the Martha's Vineyard golf course as Obama was just starting a round.

The East Coast gets earthquakes, but usually smaller ones and is less prepared than California or Alaska for shaking.

At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. Authorities announced it was an earthquake and all flights were put on hold.

At the Pentagon in northern Virginia, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building was shaking. People ran into the corridors of the government's biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"

In New York, the 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building. Court officers weren't letting people back in.

The quake came a day after an earthquake in Colorado toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico. No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday.

In Charleston, W.Va., hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily.

"The whole building shook," said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. "You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own."

In Ohio, where office buildings swayed in Columbus and Cincinnati and the press box at the Cleveland Indians' Progressive Field shook. At least one building near the Statehouse was evacuated in downtown Columbus.

In downtown Baltimore, the quake sent office workers into the streets, where lamp posts swayed slightly as they called family and friends to check in.

Social media site Twitter lit up with reports of the earthquake from people using the site up and down the U.S. eastern seaboard.

"People pouring out of buildings and onto the sidewalks and Into Farragut Park in downtown DC...," tweeted Republican strategist Kevin Madden.

"did you feel earthquake in ny? It started in richmond va!" tweeted Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill tweeted that her staff in Washington was in an "emergency location. Hope everyone is ok."

John Gurlach, air traffic controller at the Morgantown Municipal Airport was in a 40-foot-tall tower when the earth trembled.

"There were two of us looking at each other saying, 'What's that?'" he said, even as a commuter plane was landing. "It was noticeably shaking. It felt like a B-52 unloading."

Immediately, the phone rang from the nearest airport in Clarksburg, and a computer began spitting out green strips of paper — alerts from other airports in New York and Washington issuing ground stops "due to earthquake."

2:17 update

USGS says it now estimates it was a 5.9 quake.

Downtown offices were evacuated for a time, including The News Leader. Workers were allowed to return to the newspaper building after a sweep of the building indicated no damage.

STAUNTON -- An earthquake that shook much of the east coast sent people in Staunton scurrying to the street for safety, and rattled people across the southern Shenandoah Valley.

Teachers evacuated schools.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The earthquake was centered in Mineral, Va., and was felt as far away as New Jersey, according to broadcast reports. It was estimated to register 5.8 on the Richter scale.

REUTERS

Strong earthquake rattles East Coast

2:34pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the U.S. East Coast and Canada from Virginia to Toronto on Tuesday, shaking buildings and forcing evacuation of the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries from the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was centered in Mineral, Virginia, between Charlottesville and Richmond. It was initially recorded at 5.8 magnitude.

Washington office workers scurried into the streets after the quake, which lasted for about five seconds and sent items crashing to the floor from store and office shelves.

Tremors shook New York City office buildings, prompting evacuations of courthouses, City Hall and halting work at the World Trade Center construction site, officials and witnesses said.

It was not immediately clear if there was any damage or injuries in New York, but fire department and police officials in Dutchess County, north of New York City, reported structural damage to some buildings.

A spokesman for the city transit agency said the quake was felt but declined immediate comment on whether the subway system was affected.

Control towers at John F. Kennedy airport and Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey were also evacuated.

Buildings in Boston were evacuated, while a Reuters witness said the quake was felt as far away as Toronto.

(Reporting by John Whitesides, the World Desk Americas; editing by Philip Barbara)

CNN 

Quake hits near Washington, D.C.

August 23rd, 2011 02:31 AM ET

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 struck near Washington, D.C., the U.S.Geological Survey said.

The epicenter was in Mineral, Virginia. Did you feel it? Send CNN an iReport.

The quake was felt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York City and on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where President Barack Obama is vacationing. Cell phone service has been disrupted in New York City part of which has been evacuated.

Traders in the New York Stock Exchange felt the shaking and shouted to each other, "Keep trading!" CNN's business correspondent Alison Kosick reported from the floor at 2:20 p.m. E.T.

"Everybody was told to take the stairs," Wolf Blitzer said, speaking live at 2 p.m. E.T. from CNN's D.C. bureau.

The Pentagon has been evacuated, CNN's Barbara Starr reports. "When the building began shaking rather violently, hundreds of people began streaming out," she said, because many people thought that the building was under attack. Starr was standing in the Pentagon's press office when the roof started to shake.

Twitter traffic suggests the quake was felt all over the East Coast.

In Philadelphia, HunterPence3 tweeted, "Wow Earthquake just shook the entire locker room!"

In Cleveland, "tribeinsider" wrote "I'm no expert but i think we just had an earthquake here."

And even in Toronto, Canada, tweets said that the shaking could be felt for minutes.

POLITICKERNJ

Quake rattles east coast

By Darryl R. Isherwood | August 23rd, 2011 - 2:21 p.m.

A 5.9 magnitude earth quake that originated northwest of Richmond, VA rattled much of the east coast shortly before 2 p.m.

In New Jersey, the quake lasted just a few seconds, but caused evacutations of buildings in Jersey City and elsewhere.

Phone lines throughout the state were jammed and police reported being inundated with calls about the tremor.

According to reports, both the Pentagon and the Capitol Building also were evacuated.

MSNBC is reporting ground stops at all local airports including Newark, JFK and Philadelphia.

ഭൂകമ്പം: ക്യാപിറ്റോള്‍ മന്ദിരത്തിന്‌ കേട്‌; ട്രെയിന്‍ വ്യോമ ഗതാഗതം തടസ്സപ്പെട്ടു
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