Magnitude 4.5 - VIRGINIA
2003 December 9 20:59:14 UTC

Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A light earthquake occurred at 20:59:14 (UTC) on Tuesday, December 9, 2003. The magnitude 4.5 event has been located in VIRGINIA. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude 4.5 Date-Time Tuesday, December 9, 2003 at 20:59:14 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Tuesday, December 9, 2003 at 3:59:14 PM = local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 37.599°N, 77.932°W Depth 5 km (3 miles) set by location program Region VIRGINIA Distances 26 km (16 miles) SE (130°) from Columbia, VA 28 km (17 miles) WSW (256°) from Short Pump, VA 30 km (19 miles) WSW (249°) from Wyndham, VA 42 km (26 miles) W (279°) from Richmond, VA 167 km (104 miles) SSW (209°) from Washington, DC Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 8.7 km (5.4 miles); depth fixed by location program Parameters Nst= 15, Nph= 15, Dmin=63.4 km, Rmss=0.93 sec, Gp=169°, M-type="Nuttli" surface wave magnitude (MLg), Version=Q Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Event ID uscdbf Felt Reports This was a complex event consisting of two sub-events occurring 12 seconds apart. Slight damage (VI)at Bremo Bluff and Kents Store. Felt (V) at Columbia, Fork Union, Goochland, Oilville, Rockville andSandy Hook; (IV) at Appomattox, Amelia Court House, Amherst, Blackstone, Bumpass, Charlottesville,Chester, Chesterfield, Colonial Heights, Cumberland, Dillwyn, Farmville, Glen Allen, Lawrenceville,Louisa, Manakin Sabot, Mechanicsville, Midlothian, Mineral, Palmyra, Petersburg, Powhatan, Richmond,Scottsville and Spotsylvania; (III) at Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Lexington,Lynchburg, McLean, Roanoke, Staunton and Vienna. Also felt (III) at Bethesda, Rockville and SilverSpring, Maryland and at Rocky Mount and Winston Salem, North Carolina. Felt (II) at Chapel Hill,Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina and at Washington, DC. Felt in much of Maryland and Virginia.Also felt in north-central North Carolina and a few areas of Delaware, New Jersey, New York,Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Earthquake Summary Poster News Release Tectonic Summary Location Maps: NEIC Maps Topo map centered at earthquake (This link takes you offsite. Not all regions have topo maps available.) Did you feel it? Report shaking and damage at your location. You can also view a map displaying accumulated data from your report and others. Seismic Hazard Map Historical Seismicity Theoretical P-Wave Travel Times Phase Data Seismic Record Section Earthquake Information for VIRGINIA Archive of newsworthy events

Organizations Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory News Links Temblor Felt in Washington Area Earthquake of 4.5 magnitude rumbles across Virginia Mild earthquake rattles offices, nerves Earthquake's tremors felt in Mid-Ohio Valley

For more information, go to http://neic.usgs.gov/ || Contacts

The official magnitude for this earthquake is indicated at the top of this page. This was the best available estimate of the earthquake's size, at the time that this page was created. Other magnitudes associated with web pages linked from here are those determined at various times following the earthquake with different types of seismic data. Although, given the data used, they are legitimate estimates of magnitude, they are not considered the official magnitude.

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Last modification: Thursday, 18-Dec-2003 09:55
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