Interactive: Strong 5.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Mineral, Felt Throughout Short Pump

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake, the strongest to hit Central Virginia since 1897, struck just before 2:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The epicenter of the quake, near Mineral, Virginia, was felt very strongly in the Short Pump area.

August 23, 2011; 9:42 PM • by Trevor Dickerson

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake, the strongest to hit Central Virginia since 1897, struck just before 2:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The epicenter of the quake, near Mineral, Virginia, was felt very strongly in the Short Pump area.

Readers in the area reported damage to items falling off shelves or out of cabinets, and retailers reported damage to merchandise that fell and broke at Short Pump Town Center and the Shoppes at Westgate across the street.

No structural damage was reported in Short Pump or Henrico County as a whole, but moderate damage to older structures was confirmed in Louisa County, closer to the epicenter, where several chimneys reportedly collapsed and storefront windows broke.

WTVR CBS 6 anchor and reporter Greg McQuade was inside the Apple Store at Short Pump Town Center when the quake struck. His Facebook video of the scene right after the shaking stopped showed shoppers calmly flooding out into the courtyard.

UPDATE: A preliminary 4.2 magnitude aftershock was felt across the area at 8:02 p.m. Tuesday night. The epicenter was located along Route 522 in Louisa County.

Short Pump is no stranger to earthquakes. On July 6, 2009, a much smaller magnitude 2.3 earthquake with an epicenter off Lauderdale Drive in Wellesley caused very little damage, if any. (view our interview with the resident whose house is directly on top of the epicenter of that quake here)

Tuesday’s quake was felt as far south as Georgia and as far north as Toronto, according to the Associated Press.

We’ve rounded up some of the best posts around the Short Pump area on Twitter and Facebook just after the quake struck. Send links to your immediate reactions in the comments and we’ll add them to the interactive storyboard as we deem appropriate.

August 23, 2011 9:42 PM 0