Earthquake Day in D.C.

 
It was nearing 2:00 in the afternoon and we were close to our 2:30 White House tour time. Driving in Tim’s Chevrolet Avalanche, we were searching for a public parking spot. Slowing to a stop as the stoplight turned red, the Avalanche started shaking slightly. Then the shaking grew steadily stronger. Tim turned to Curt and me and asked “Ok, who’s being funny and shaking the truck?”. I responded, “I thought you were holding one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas and shaking the truck on purpose.” The shaking intensified for about 30 seconds and then abruptly ceased. The light turned green and we continued on our way, somewhat confused by the preceeding events. Tim voiced out loud “Maybe it was the metro underneath us that caused that”.
 

We parked the car and then proceeded to walk the few blocks to the White House. As we started on our way, people began to pour out of buildings. I turned to Tim and said “Something is going on. This is just too unusual.” More people flooded out doors until the sidewalk was packed. Everybody was on their cellphone too. We picked up pieces of conversation. “They are reporting it on MSNBC.com”, “5.8 magnitude”, “All buldings are being evacuated”. We put the pieces together and realized it was an earthquake. Tim was able to contact his wife and she filled us in on what the news was reporting. Both our cell phone receptions were spotty since the phone grids were overloaded.

 
Our White House tour was postponed until the following day. All museums closed for the day. We took the only option left to us: walk the mall and look at all the monuments we could. The Washington monument was closed off due to possible strucutral damage, and the Lincoln Memorial was closed at the steps. Once the initial excitement wore off and everyone realized no serious harm had been done, business resumed as usual. Tourists continued to check out the sites. Vendors continued to sell their wares. All in all, just another exciting day in D.C.