we're live on the peninsula where a small plane crash- landed this morning. that's just one of the top stories. good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. there has been a major earthquake on the east coast.

it hit in virginia, in mineral virginia, not far from washington, d.c. it hit just before 2:00 p.m. east coast time. it was about 3.7 miles deep. the quake sent hunt dreads of people spilling out of the house, the pentagon and the capitol. shaking was felt from north carolina into new england. residents in new york felt the quake. it hit, in fact, during a press conference on the dominique strauss-kahn case. video shows people feeling the shaking. as you can see here getting out of the room. many new yorkers ran out of buildings and stood in the street following the quake. now we've got some video from washington, d.c. after the quake. all capitol buildings were evacuated. the epicenter was about 90 miles southwest of the nation's cap capital. significant damage is expected to older structures as well as water and gas lines. we're hearing reports from cnn,

the national cathedral was damaged in washington, d.c. also, there there was water pipe damage at the pentagon, and we understand that all -- according to the national parks service, all national mall monuments and memorials are closed after the earthquake. the quake was also felt up in martha's vineyard. that's, of course, where president obama was just starting a round of golf. he was seen taking a phone call on the golf course. joining us now live on the phone is a resident of virginia. i'm sorry. i didn't get your name. are you there? >> i'm here. >> and tell me what your name is. >> jane masry. >> and what did you feel during the quake? >> i was on a call for work and i was sitting here and all of a sudden, the house started shaking and i wasn't sure what was going on and it started to get stronger and stronger.

i was trying to get out of my desk but i was having a hard time pushing my chair out. it kept shaking me in the desk. [ inaudible ] >> it was shaking more powerful and i grabbed my kids and we ran outside. and it just continued to shake. >> has there been any damage to your house or anywhere in the area? >> there doesn't seem to be any damage to the house. some things off book shelves and a few things fell off the wall but nothing major. >> have you ever been through an earthquake? >> never. never. i've never been through an earthquake before. i was scared to death. the -- poor little kids were scared. >> how far are you from

minister. >> 30, miles, 40 miles. >> you are fairly close. it was felt in new york city, north carolina, south carolina. >> have you felt any aftershocks at all? >> we felt one probably about ten minutes ago. it was a small rumble, nothing compared to what the original one was. >> we had a little bad signal there. in california, some people describe jolts, up and down, and some quakes are side to side. did you feel anything like that? >> when i was sitting, it seemed like it was up and down but when i was trying to walk, it seemed like it was more back and forth at that point. >> we're glad you're okay and we're glad everyone survived the experience. jane massari, thanks for your time this morning, from fredericksburg, virginia. the earthquake that shook the east coast was causing some

cell phone problems. verizon, at&t and said there networks were trying to make phone calls, scram beming to make sure everything was okay -- scrambling to make sure everyone was okay. sprint also said some customers may be experiencing delays as well. we'll continue to follow this situation here with the earthquake in washington, d.c., the magnitude 5.9. we'll have more on this a little later in the newscast. but meanwhile, turning to some local news. a small plane is down after making an emergency landing in east palo alto this moving. this story is new at noon. maureen naylor is live with the good news. the only person on board, the pilot. he was not hurt. maureen? >> reporter: tori, it's amazing. actually two people on board. both safe. both okay. we talked with both of them a little while ago.

right now, federal investigators are on their way to find out what went wrong. the plane went down on the bay trail. beer standing on the -- we're standing on the bay trail. i want to zoom in from the ground and show you where the white emergency vehicles are. that's close by to where the plane went dunn -- went down. weep now want to take you to newschopper2 and show you where the plane was. firefighters say the plane was forced to make an emergency landing at 9:45 this morning. they would have done so perfectly except the left wing clipped the tree. that damaged the left tree and forced the plane to spin off into marshland. the owner just purchased the four-seater plane on friday. the four-seater landed and a student pilot and his instructor, both on board, both able to walk away. they say the engine lost power while the two were practicing touch and goes, taking off and landing at the airport.

>> their last and touch and go, their take-off, they get to 300 feet in elevation. their plane lost power. at that point, they are looking for the safest possible place to sand -- to land. >> we're gonna give you another look live. newschopper2 overhead. the faa and ntsb are on their way to figure out what happened to the plane that caused it to move power. the owner, david shoemaker. he works for apple. in the last half-hour, the pilot had a tearful reunion with his family. again, we talked with both of them. we'll have more on that coming up at 5:00 tonight. reporting live in east palo alto, maureen naylor, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you maureen. we want to back to the earthquake on the east coast. scott macfarlane joins us now from our washington, d.c. bureau. scott, tell us what happened. what did you feel when the quake hit?

>> reporter: it was strong, scary and unmiss takable. we were on the 7th floor of a building and it felt like we were standing on a rick kitty ladder. the u.s. capitol evacuated, i'm told they are told they are checking for structural damage. you will see police presence wine hind me at times. one thing that's kind of -- present behind me at times. one thing that's kind. inconvenient. cell phone service is sketchy. e-mails are not coming in or going out. one witness told us inside the u.s. russell senate building. this is about a building that's about 150, 175 years old. it was swaying and shifting in the quake, mother bell -- marble building shaking because of this quake. >> we understand that two nuclear reactors have been taken offline. as you mentioned a lot of -- a

lot of tour sites have been shut down, correct? >> reporter: i've seen those reports also, that the nuclear facilities have been idle for now. tourists are wandering around with into where to go. everything been shut down that they would go see. commuter lines, even more utilized in b.a.r.t. this is a city trapped in the city even though businesses are shuddered. one footnote, the capitol building, the pentagon, not as full as usual. congress is on recess. this is a city that's half empty, anyway, perhaps forefortuitous timing. >> yeah. scott macfarlane from our washington, d.c. bureau reporting live. thank you. b.a.r.t. protests -- turning back to regular news -- becoming a regular event -- there have been four protests and now there's talk about another one.

allie rasmus has more. >> reporter: well, this group "anonymous" is calling for another protest on monday, also at 5:00 at the civic center station. they started to send out treats -- tweet to the their followers. the people taking part in all of these demonstrations are upset about two things, b.a.r.t.'s decision so shut off cell phone service and the b.a.r.t. police shooting death of a man at civic center station last month. during last night eight protest, civic center and b.a.r.t. and san francisco police arrested 45 people. >> you know, i don't have a problem with people speaking up for what they believe in. i would do the same thing -- the same thing. >> it's a waste of time. i don't think they are getting anything done, to tell ut truth. it's just making -- tell you the truth. it's just making people late for work. >> reporter: some people said they either left work early or

worked from home. but between 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., b.a.r.t. had 500 more passengers than it had last monday when there was also a protest. b.a.r.t.'s transit says they welcome another protest as long as the protesters stay off the platform. >> i think people are getting frustrated. the passengers -- from an organization, from the b.a.r.t. leadership point of view, we want this discussion in the right place. >> reporter: b.a.r.t.'s board of directors will have a special public forum tomorrow to discuss whether or not party should be able to discuss -- b.a.r.t. should be able to discuss cell phone service. that will be open to the public. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. we'll have more of ktvu channel 2 news at noon right after this.

. in the midst of a possible end to the conflict in libya, there's word that gadhafi remains defiant in tripoli. rebels stormed into gadhafi's main military compound today after fierce fighting with gadhafi's forces. fighters poured into the area by the hundreds and took away

ammunition and supplies. former ktvu reporter sara sidner is reporting for cnn about what she's seeing and what rebels told her this morning. >> reporter: you see the people streaming through the main gate. that's all the way into the compound. so you see -- they were telling us that this was the end. what you are seeing in front of you right now are cars coming out of the gadhafi compound. they are loaded with men holding guns, holding ammunition. people are celebrating. >> the heavily-fortified complex has been heavily damaged by nato air strikes the last several months. it's not clear if gadhafi and his family were inside the compound during the battle or where he is now. a new york judge has dismissed the sexual assault charges against dominique strauss-kahn. the former director of the international monetary fund. prosecutors say they no longer

believe the hotel maid who believes strauss-kahn sexually assaulted her when she cleaned his room in may. there's dna that she had sexual contact with him but there's no he evidence of a sexual assault. so the charges are officially dismissed. a football legend is offering some help for the hungry today. tara moriarty joins us live to explain how former 49er joe montana is joining a new campaign to fight hunger. tara? >> reporter: well, in san francisco nearly 200,000 people strug toll feed themselves and their family each year. so -- struggle to feed themselves and their family each year. so that's where the food bank comes in. joe montana arrived about an hour and a half ago and he helped deliver and unload 5,000 pounds of kraft food in a

program that's designed to helping feed america. >> got a little tour. i was shocked. they do 45 million pounds of food a year and half of that is fresh. amazing. pretty amazing. so fun to be apart of it. >> reporter: you can join montana in the huddle by clicking "like" on the kraft hunger page. for every "like" kraft will deliver one free meal to america. live in san francisco, i'm tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. the man accused of strangling a napa state hospital worker now knows his punishment. 38-year-old jess massey pleaded no contest for the murder of 54- year-old donna gross of concord last october. this morning he was sentenced to 25 years to life. in exchange for his plea, robbery and kidnapping charges

were dropped. gross's brother says the family is pleased with the sentence. >> pleased with the sentence. 25 years to life, no possibility of parole after 25 years. he's a thug. he's not gonna survive in prison. >> since the murder, the hospital says it has increased security. however, some employees say they are still concerned about safety there. every year ktvu and our parent company, cox enprices, seek people, who preserve the outdoor environment in our communities. we call them cox conserves heroes. >> you're gonna be with them. >> reporter: it starts with a man with a plan and a clipboard. >> this is crew one and this is crew two. >> reporter: dig a hole, plant

a tree, repeat. >> we've done 310 since last january. >> reporter: arthur boon is the head of what he calls oakland's volunteer tree-planting department. >> we have a tree planting democrat. you are -- department. you are looking at three of them there. trees are beautiful. i spent a lot time around them when i was a kid. so i am stepping in. >> reporter: boon mobilizes volunteers. >> he's tireless but he also has a good sense of humor. >> reporter: and he handles the behind the scenes work so planting can go smoothly. >> this tree was somehow miraculously here for us to start to dig. it took a lot of work for us to coordinate with the homeowner. >> i feel a few dead branches in there. but that's typical. >> he walks through neighborhoods and should the tree be looking a billion woe be gone, he reaches out to the

residents. >> i call them up. send them an e-mail. hey, a little more waller on your trees, please. >> reporter: he says of all of the work he does, trees elicit the most response. >> we knock on the doors and say would you like a tv? they say mommy, mommy, a tree that can grow up with me! you gotta love that. >> reporter: bill martin, ktvu channel 2 news. >> arthur bun is one of five profiles -- boon is one of five profiles being featured. you can vote for your favorite by going to ktvu.com. just scroll halfway down the home page. good afternoon. high pressure cranking up the heat over the bay area and bringing us wall-to-wall sunshine. we have plenty of blue sky out there. maybe a few high clouds drifting overhead from from time to time. but the marine layer back off the coast and we're looking at mostly sunny conditions for the

afternoon. a new york therly breeze in san jose -- northerly breeze in san jose. high pressure has pretty much cut off our flow. 66 san francisco. 69 oakland. widespread upper 70s in san jose. low 80s, livermore, concord reporting 81 and the north bay inland, reporting 70. 76 in santa rosa. 73 in napa. these temperatures anywhere from 10 to 12 degrees warmer than where we started yesterday. so giving you a look at what's going on. we dealt with coastal clouds. even a little bit of dense fog. now we're looking at plenty of sunshine. dense fog could be back with us tomorrow. our temperatures are warming quite a bit. widespread 60s and 70s for the coastline and even into the 90s for our inland areas. take a look at our temperatures here. 83 for san mateo this afternoon. 88, san jose. widespread low 80s for hayward. 76 in oakland. the warmest spots, mid-90s, areas right around concord, antioch, expect to hit around

90. extended forecast, temperatures will fall tomorrow. but it will be short-lived. we do rebound, thursday friday, temperatures seasonal. upper 80s, low 90s for the -- for the valley. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. new security will in place for candlestick park following the raiders' game. new security will be in the parking lot during and after the game. the 9ers will revoke the tickets to those people giving those tickets to someone causing problems at the game. >> there were 19 public intoxication arrests, when normally we make six to eight. >> plus after games, san francisco police will conduct dui checkpoints outside

candlestick. the annual preseason game between the 9ers and raiders will be cancelled indefinitely. and oakland police will beef up their presence at the next few raider games. there's better news about some of the victims injured this past weekend. the condition of a san rafael man found badly beaten and unconscious in a stadium restroom has been upgraded to fair. the 24-year-old man who was shot four sometimes in the abdomens with lass -- was also upgraded to fair. another man was injured but his injury was not as serious. still ahead -- why bay area nurses are walking the pickett lines today -- picket lines today. man: we need a good night's sleep. woman: which means a little heat to keep us warm. and a good dose of support for my back. some over-the-top comfort couldn't hurt. and our perfect dream factory's been built. you're feeling sleepy already?

nighty-night. [giggling]

taking a live look at the big board on wall street, really good day for stocks. one of the reasons investors jumping into the market for highly anticipated address ben bernanke. [ chanting ] nurses at kaiser permanente in walnut creek spent the morning on the picket line in support of patient safety. they were protesting a proposal to cut another 26 full-time nursing positions, saying that staffing levels are already too low. over the last year, they say nurses filed more than 600 incident reports about unsafe

care. we called the hospital but have not yet received a response from administrators. coming up tonight at 5:00, we are continuing to gather information from up and down the east coast on the earthquake that rocked it. we'll have a live report from washington, d.c. with all of the latest on the closures to federal buildings, airports, some damage that's been reported in the area and how all of this might affect you. that story and more coming up in our next newscast, ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. thanks for watching. have a great day. [ this broadcast captioned by erin c. mc clure ]