For the fourth year, Virginia will participate in the Great Southeast ShakeOut, a multi-state simultaneous earthquake drill set for Oct. 20, 2016, at 10:20 a.m. Learn more about what to do if there is an earthquake and then practice these easy-to-remember steps during the ShakeOut:

  • Drop!
  • Cover!
  • Hold on!

There are many ways for individuals, businesses, schools, faith-based organizations, community groups and others to participate in the Southeast ShakeOut and to get prepared for earthquakes. Lots of educational materials and more information including how to register for the Oct. 20 ShakeOut can be found on this website: www.shakeout.org/southeast. Please take a look, and sign up to participate!

Click on the following link as a reminder of what should take place this Thursday at 10:20 am.  Click on the link to be familiar with the drill that may keep you or a loved one out of harms way.  https://youtu.be/LTpd3gGEC-c?list=PLs1gMujRSBY1b8HfvyUHw9PDXSgvd9Rzu

Virginia and much of the East Coast experienced a widely-felt earthquake at 1:51 p.m. eastern daylight time on Tuesday, August 23, 2011. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter of the quake was located near Cuckoo, in Louisa County. With a magnitude of 5.8, this is the largest Virginia earthquake recorded by seismometers. More than 80 aftershocks have been reported by the USGS and the area is currently being monitored by geophysicists from several leading science institutions.

The U.S. Geological Survey is now reporting that this is the most widely-felt earthquake in U.S. history. More information can be found here.

Earthquakes in the eastern U.S. are different from the earthquakes that occur in more seismically active areas, such as California. California is located on the boundary between two large blocks of the earth’s crust, the North American and Pacific tectonic plates. As these plates grind past each other, stresses build up and periodically release catastrophically. Virginia, however, is located in the middle of the North American plate; the nearest tectonic plate boundary is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Earthquake activity occurring away from plate boundaries is known as “intraplate seismicity.” Such earthquakes are generally less severe and less damaging than those occurring at plate boundaries, although occasional large earthquakes, such as the 5.8M in central Virginia, do occur.*