The largest earthquake to hit Virginia in more than a century struck Louisa County yesterday.
The 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit Virginia at 1:51 p.m. on August 23, but the effects were felt in several states including Washington, New York City and North Carolina. See here for how magnitudes of earthquakes are calculated.
No injuries or major damage were reported but many buildings were evacuated and masses of people flooded the streets. Some buildings also experienced electrical loss. The quake comes one day after a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck Colorado. That quake reportedly caused only minor damage and no injuries.
According to the US Geological Survey (GUSG), several million earthquakes occur annually but most are not realized because the majority of quakes are too small to be felt.
Other significant earthquakes that struck the US this year include the 4.1 magnitude quakes that hit Northern California and Arkansas on January 8 and February 18 respectively.
The largest recorded earthquake to hit the US was a magnitude 9.2 that stuck Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 28, 1964. The largest recorded quake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 quake that occurred in Chile on May 22, 1960.
On this day in 1985, a magnitude 7.5 quake hit China and resulted in at least 71 deaths and 162 injuries. On this day in 1980, a magnitude quake in India took the lives of 15 and left 40 injured.