View from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, courtesy of court officials.
Updated at 6:02 p.m.
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook Washington this afternoon, shuttering most of the city's legal institutions.
The earthquake hit just before 2 p.m. News reports place the epicenter in a region northwest of Richmond, Va., but tremors could be felt along the East Coast, as far north as Maine and as far south as North Carolina. The Associated Press reported that a D.C. fire department spokesman said there were numerous injuries, but none initially serious. The temblor struck at 1:51 p.m.
The city’s federal and local courts were evacuated shortly after the earthquake hit. The federal courts will remain closed for the remainder of the day, with the expectation that they will reopen tomorrow morning. At least two trials underway in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia were interrupted, including a Colombian narcotics case and a fraud case.
The local courts will also remain closed, with the exception of adult arraignments and new juvenile referrals, according to court spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz. Gurowitz said that jurors in the process of jury selection have been asked to return tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. to the appropriate courtroom. Anyone with a pending matter scheduled for Tuesday afternoon are also being asked to report back on Wednesday.
A Justice Department spokeswoman, Jessica Smith, said shortly before 3 p.m. that department employees had returned to the Main Justice building and business had resumed. Justice Department employees were outside for about 20 minutes before heading back inside.
On Capitol Hill, activity was already at a minimum because of the August recess, so the earthquake didn’t disrupt any hearings. The Senate, though, had been scheduled for a pro forma session at 2:30 p.m. The session was postponed.
Staff members said the Capitol building and all office buildings on the House and Senate sides were evacuated. Staff had not been allowed back in as of 3:20 p.m. Beth Levine, spokeswoman for Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said her office’s staff “all got out just fine.”
Workers across downtown Washington streamed out of office buildings as soon as the tremors were felt.
Workers evacuating in downtown D.C., courtesy of Michael Scarcella.
Several of the city’s law firms reported closing for the day. Rebecca Carr, a spokeswoman for Covington & Burling, said that firm had shut down for the day. Carr said the firm’s building, which also has Sutherland Asbill & Brennan as a tenant, was completely evacuated.
Other firms evacuated temporarily but were back at work when reached later this afternoon. Hogan Lovells managing partner J. Warren Gorrell Jr., said attorneys there “evacuated but are back in the office and back to normal as if nothing ever happened.” Gorrell said the building shook and the lights flickered for about 15 seconds.
McDermott Will & Emery spokesman Chad Torbin said the firm is “back to business, more or less.” Torbin said staff could leave if they wanted to go home, however, so the office is operating “around half capacity at the moment, maybe a little less.”
Cozen O’Connor partner Bernie Grimm said that when the earthquake hit, he was “reading a Supreme Court opinion that was poorly written and had a bad result.”
“I was looking for any distraction and I got one,” he said. “Spent the next hour in Farragut Park on a perfect day. Unfortunately when I came back the opinion was still on my desk.”
Local law enforcement reported damages at several buildings. The Associated Press reported that at least three of the four pinnacles at the National Cathedral in Northwest Washington fell off and that a central tower appears to be leaning.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in a statement that city police officers were maintaining a “heavy presence” in the community and that a helicopter was flying over the District for a visual assessment of damage.
This post was reported by Jenna Greene, Matthew Huisman, David Ingram, Andrew Ramonas, Mike Scarcella, Karen Sloan and Zoe Tillman, and was written by Tillman.
Man, earth quakes are one of the more devastating disasters. At least most of the others we have an ability to predict and prepare for. Not the case with earthquakes.
Posted by: LA Personal Injury Lawyer | January 18, 2012 at 04:42 PM
I can't believe how much this story has been given air-time. So much so that I hear that local channels over there stopped covering the historic news in Libya and instead opted to cover this event where no one was seriously hurt (Thank goodness).
In anycase I'm just glad that fellow barristers and all the people on the other side of the pond are all safe.
Also I seriously hope for more comment activity on these pages. It's dismotivating being the lone wolf in this corner of the web and I fear I'm losing the fight to keep this place alive!
Posted by: Andros Pelecanos | August 24, 2011 at 03:32 AM
we cant do any thing against natural disaster. keep finger crossed and hope for the best.
Posted by: Jonathan cole | August 24, 2011 at 12:57 AM