Possible Small Earthquake Rattles Western Richmond Overnight

UPDATE: After we first broke the story shortly after midnight, the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory has confirmed a magnitude 2.3 earthquake occurred at 11:59:52 p.m. with an epicenter near Short Pump. See seismograph below for more information. Just after midnight, around 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning, something shook Richmond’s West End. From Short Pump to Carytown […]

July 7, 2009; 1:41 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

Just after midnight, around 12:01 a.m. Tuesday morning, something shook Richmond’s West End. From Short Pump to Carytown and all points in between and beyond, we got reports into our Twitter account that something had shaken the ground. I felt it right here myself in Wyndham, too. I’ll take a personal approach on this story for once.

Just back from the scene of live wires that were downed on Pouncey Tract Road, I heard what sounded like a low rumble, similar to rolling thunder. At first, I thought another transformer had exploded down the street at the scene of the downed wires.

Every window in the house rattled and the ceiling fan rocked slightly. The rumbling and vibrations, which felt as if they were in a rolling pattern, lasted for approximately six seconds. After asking if anyone else had felt the rumbling, we quickly got lots of responses.

“Reporting from the Short Pump Mall area, that definitely was an earthquake,” Twitter user “PaulaNQ” (@MentalMakeover) wrote into us. “I’ve felt one here before where the ‘earth moved.’”

“Yes, I felt it – A block from Regency Square Mall,” wrote another user, Chris Harrison (@britinva)

A seismograph from the University of Richmond shows a definite disturbance just after midnight, but the graph at J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College in Goochland County (shown below, click here for full size chart) shows a much bigger spike, showing that the epicenter of the supposed earthquake occurred somewhere west of the Metro Richmond area.

Seismic activity could be neither confirmed nor denied by the U.S. Geological Survey at press time, but we’ll follow the story as it develops towards the morning.

Did you feel anything overnight? Send in your comments below!