We have a single-family house in the north end of Alexandria off of Russell Road. Sheila and I had just pulled into our garage after running errands around Old Town. I got out of the Jeep Cherokee, walked around Sheila's Nissan Maxima and was about to insert the key into the backdoor lock when all of a sudden the house began to make a loud, low-pitched roar. For a few seconds I didn't know what was happening; the whole house was actually roaring. Then the yard tools hanging on the garage wall began to sway and rattle. Sheila shouted, "Look at the Jeep!" It was swaying from side to side. (The low-slung Maxima wasn't moving at all.) I shouted "Get out!" and we ran into the yard. And then it was all over, about 20 seconds after it began. Pictures were ajar all through the house, and for months we found small cracks in walls--and one in the concrete floor under the Jeep.

I just had dressed to go to the Post office and was in the master bedroom (2nd story) when the P-wave hit (the low flying jet sound). At the same time, our land line began to ring. My wife ran into the bedroom saying "what's that?" and she started to run out on our 2nd story deck. I knew what it was and grabbed her before she went out the deck door. Then the S-wave hit and the whole house swayed back and forth at least 3 times and I saw our 50 yo maple swaying. I was in the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 (in San Jose about 10 miles from epicenter), and our quake felt close to the 1989 quake. I found some cracks in the exterior parge concrete, a few vases had fallen over and pictures were ajar. Several storage shelves almost fell over too.

When the suspended lights in my office started bouncing up and down, I realized that the office on the floor above us was not moving elephants on wheels! I remember the look's on my intern's face and my boss's face when I suggested to them that they might consider getting under their desks for a moment. When the building stopped bouncing, we joined all the other folks outside. Luckily the day was so beautiful that we decided to take the afternoon off.

I was in an earthquake in California in 1989 and this was totally different. In CA, I felt like someone picked up my bed and just dropped it, and then the whole thing shook, Exorcist style. The VA earthquake started slower, or so it seemed. My dogs barked, my chandelier started to sway and then it picked up and shook violently for a few seconds and then it was over. I l live near TC, so when it first hit, I thought there had been huge truck accident on King Street or an explosion at TC or something. When it was over, I went outside and my neighbors who were home were all out talking about it. Part of my gutter fell off my house but that was the extent of the damage.

I was covering the State Senate primary and was also tracking down some info for a story on the city's recycling program. I was in the middle of leaving a voicemail with someone in the T&ES department. My apartment started shaking while leaving the message. I paused, said "my apartment is vibrating," finished the message and walked outside. I initially thought it was an explosion. I then reached out to campaign managers of at least two of the candidates to ask if the primary was still going on. It was a long, bizarre day.

My teen daughter left her babysitting gig shortly after the earthquake. I had texted her that if the house smelled funny (meaning gas) she shouldn't go in. Shortly thereafter I get a call from her saying, "there is some sort of alarm going off and the house smells weird." "Call 911 and GET OUT!" I left the shattered picture glass in my Old Town office, and raced home. I would have beaten the fire department if I hadn't had to stop at the light to let them by. Our 20-year-old collection of hot sauce bottles are pretty until one is shaken off the shelf and broken - smelled horrible. Our neon clock took on a hi-pitched tone, which was solved with unplugging. Thank you Alexandria Fire Dept for not making me feel (any more) foolish.

I was visiting a friend as a homeless person for a few days, I believe, in a house on the Alexandria and Fairfax County line - blue Fairfax County signs but Alexandria address. I had seen a squirred out front of the house, and was walking toward a bush to see if he was hiding - he was cute and I was taking a break from looking for a better situation as a homeless person.

The silver SUV on the street belonging to a man who lived there started rocking violently, and teh upstairs of the house seemed to be in danger. I worried about a woman friend of mine in the bedroom up there where there was shaking in the house, and waited with concern for her to emerge from the house, wondering if the stairs would collapse.

She came out into the front yard after awhile, and seemed shaken but all right.

What a strange and scary day that was!

Ms. Patricia L. McGurk

The windows in my office building creaked and then the floor under my desk moved. Cell service was overloaded. I stood next to a delivery truck on I Street listening to their radio, waiting to see if we would permitted back into our building.

Metro was overwhelmed. My husband picked up the kids from Campagna, and I eventually got home. I still get a little weirded-out when my office windows creak from the wind. Major kudos to the staff at MVCS for keeping the kids safe! What a day that was.

I was seated on the office John for my post-lunch consitutional. I thought the mexican food we'd had was bad.

The drop-ceiling tiles on my office floor were shaking, and my first thought was "why are heavy people running down the hall upstairs?". It was all over by the time I thought about climbing under a desk. The only "damage" at my house was a propped picture frame that fell off a ledge, but no broken glass since it fell directly into a pile of dirty laundry.

I worked from home that day, in the heart of Del Ray. On a conference call with one coworker at his home in Fairfax County and several others in our Tampa office. My headset on, sitting on the edge of the sofa, feet flat on the slab floor of our great room, the first thing I felt was the sofa cushion gently hitting my back. Then ripples under my feet--first very light and then serious. My Fairfax coworker, a young guy from India, shouted on the phone, "PETE! WHAT IS THIS?", and I think I replied "WE'RE HAVING AN EARTHQUAKE!" The Tampa guys laughed and suggested we were just trying to end the call. I jumped up and stumbled toward the sliding door, whose frame I saw moving left/right/left/right. Our two cats on the porch ran into the house, and I ran out. Trees were swaying and power lines bouncing and the rumble was amazing. And then it was done. I never lost contact with the others on the call, except my frightened Fairfax friend who had run out of his high-rise apartment building. I believe I did a play by play for my coworkers on the call. Pretty cool.

I was at work in Arlington, VA on the 4th floor of a 16 story building. All of a sudden my cubicle walls started shaking like crazy and I could heard a strange pounding like a very large man running fast down the hall. It only last a few seconds but that was enough to freak everyone out. My manager told everyone to go home. Luckily our house did not sustain any damage (off route 1 in alexandria/fairfax county).