the usgs map showed that the earthquake centered near charlottesville, virginia, they believe and capitol police are evacuating the u.s. capitol and we got the head's up from the senator coons that this is happening, and after the earthquake tremors were violently shaking the building and the ceiling and according to this report for 15 seconds while the tremor hit. 15 seconds in a quake is a lifetime especially in a part of the country that is not prepared for it, and certainly you are not expecting anything of this nature. i also got this in from jim miklaszewski who is saying that his wife and son are in northern montgomery county and said that the earthquake lasted about one minute at least that is what it felt like to them, and they could not stand on the floor which is the same area closest to the epicenter in the quake that happened about a year ago. so these are some of the details that i'm getting in just from our colleague, andrea, in the area, and people in manhattan like willie geist and jim miklaszewski's family who are near the epicenter of last year's quake, and i'm working

i mentioned the chief werner is fire chief of the charlottesville fire department in virginia. charles werner is a 37 year veteran, volunteer and fire service. he celebrate his 33rd year with the charlottesville, virginia, fire department and presently serves as its fire chief. chief werner is a certified chief fire officer designate and national fire academy executive fire officer graduate. he has received two life setting a fourth and newest accommodations are in his fire service career. he currently serves on the charlottesville university of virginia emergency communications 911 center management board. and on the board of directors for the national alliance for public safety gis foundation. he serves on several state and national public safety communications and leadership committees, including vice chair of u.s. department of homeland security department of homeland security sitcom executive committee. international association of fire chiefs technology council, virginia statewide interoperability executive committee, and the fcc emergency response interoperability counci

the epicenter was between charlottesville and richmond. the quake was so powerful it could be felt several hundred miles away in boston. >> the earthquake rattled nerves up and down america's east coast. enforce the automatic shutdown of two reactors at a nuclear power plant in virginia. >> the standard has protected >> . >> i thought we could show you the new customer waiting room. >> a tv commercial was being filmed close to the epicenter as the quake struck. >> what was that? >> the warehouse was evacuated because of the earthquake. so too was the pentagon, the capital and other government buildings. president obama was not here. he is in holiday on martha's vineyard. this is the strongest earthquake in living memory in this part of the world. many who were here were left shaken up. thousands of office workers to to the streets after being evacuated from their building. >> it is kind of scary. the building shook and i never felt it before. you can feel it coming. you do not know what is until it is over and then you realize what it was.

the epicenter was between charlottesville and richmond in virginia. it was so powerful it could be felt several hundred miles away in boston. david willis reports. >> the earthquake rattled nerves up and down america's east coast. it forced the automatic shutdown of two reactors and nuclear power plant in virginia. >> the standard has protected. >> i have been through earthquakes in seattle. >> this is our new [inaudible] >> the commercial was being filmed as the quake struck. >> what was that? >> the white house was evacuated because of the earthquake. so too was the pentagon and other government buildings. president obama was not here at the time. he is on holiday in martha's vineyard. this is the strongest earthquake in this part of the world in living memory. many of those who were here were left pretty shaken up. thousands of office workers took to the streets after being evacuated from their building. >> it is kind of scary. the building shook. you could i never felt it before. you could feel it kind of coming. you do not know what is until it i

. >> reporter: the usgs reports the epicenter was between charlottesville and richmond near mineral virginia. officials say earthquakes along the east coast don't happen often. >> the 6 could happen anywhere in the united states from builtup stresses. so they are rare but they happen. >> reporter: president barack obama was on the golf course when the earthquake hit. the white house says he checked in with his top advisors. they told him the quake didn't cause any major damage to infrastructure. the capital is re-opened but crews in washington, d.c. are still assessing damage. three fires on the national cathedral came crashing -- three spires on the national cathedral came crashing down. the park service will keep the washington monument closed until further notice while crews make sure it is structurally sound. there is minor damage around the quake zone and as east coast cleans up, experts warn there could be aftershocks. nuclear plants along the east coast are on close watch tonight. safe systems automatically took two nuclear reactors offline that are about 13 miles from the epicenter o

the epicenter was in charlottesville and richmond in virginia, and the quake was so powerful it could be felt several hundred miles away in boston. >> the earthquake rattled nerves up and down america's east coast. it forced the automatic shutdown of two reactors at a nuclear power plant in virginia. >> this standard has protected. >> and brought about a manhattan press conference about dominic strauss kahn to an abrupt halt. >> just thought we'd take this opportunity to show you our new -- you feel that? >> a tv commercial was being filmed close to the epicenter as the quake struck. >> what was that? >> the white house was evacuated because of the earthquake. so too was the pentagon, the capitol, and other government buildings. president obama wasn't here at the time. he's on holiday in marcia's vineyard, but this is the strongest earthquake in this part of the world in living memory, and those who were here were left pretty shaken up. thousands of office workers took to the streets after being evacuated from their buildings. >> it's kind of scary. the building shook. you can kind of

megyn: they are saying the epicenter was between charlottesville and richmond, virginia. that's a considerable distance away yet it's affecting not just washington, d.c., but as far north to new york city. now they are saying it was a magnitude 6.0 earthquake. initially reported at 5.8 magnitude. this one updated to have been a 6.0 quake. view rurp and down around the capital city area major shake and no reports of damage. what we are hearing here in d.c., but i can tell you i'm standing in the middle of the street and the capital is evacuated. there are thousands of people streaming out of the capitol building even though most people aren't around here. most of congress is gone. but there is still folks work in and around the capital area. everybody is on the streets and the fire alarms are going off. we just got past details now -- virginia is saying significant shakes down there in the & alexandria area. you just reported 5.8 at the epicenter. megyn: updated to 56.0. we are told the pentagon has been evacuated. the capital has been evacuated. would they evacuate the wh

they're east of charlottesville, virginia.f you look on the seismic hazard maps, you'll see a warm spot in that area. it's not unprecedented. but it's one of the largest we've had there. >> give us an idea for the folks who have been evacuated and some who have chose tone stay inside the buildings, what are the odds of aftershocks in a case like this snoo. >> there certainly will be aftershocks. be rare to have that size and not -- at least magnitude 4s and maybe 5. >> we had a 5.3 is the largest aftershock. a few percent of the time, the aftershock will get larger than the first one. so you have a few percent chance, might have another magnitude 6 or even larger. it can happen. it's unlikely, but it does happen. so people should be expecting, especially over the next hour or two, the probability dies off rapidly with time. the most dangerous time is the next hour. then you go another few hours, you're half again as likely. much like the way the shaking dies off with distance from the earthquake. chance of aftershocks dies off

joining us now were from as bury park scos ratmusen and from charlottesville, virginia. larry sabato teechesz at the university there i have been saying this whole debt deal is bad for president obama, many people disagree with me on that. what say you? >> it's been bat bad for him. look, independents and swing voters, saw a president who was disengaged. who appeared irrelevant for a lot of the last week and frankly, i think is, looking more and more carter-ized referring to jimmy carter. look at the left, bill. you mentioned. this i think the left on the democratic side actually has it right. the republicans control 1/3 of the national government but they got two thirds of this deal. so, for president obama, it did look like he caved. >> bill: but the reason that the republicans if you want to say they won and i'm not sure in the hearts and finds of americans that's the case, i think that it is so obvious, doctor, that the country is in economic peril, so obvious that you can't sustain a spending jihad like the democrats want to sustain. you heard krugman. you heard bar

joining us now were from as bury park scos ratmusen and from charlottesville, virginia. larry sabato teechesz at the university there i have been saying this whole debt deal is bad for president obama, many people disagree with me on that. what say you? >> it's been bat bad for him. look, independents and swing voters, saw a president who was disengaged. who appeared irrelevant for a lot of the last week and frankly, i think is, looking more and more carter-ized referring to jimmy carter. look at the left, bill. you mentioned. this i think the left on the democratic side actually has it right. the republicans control 1/3 of the national government but they got two thirds of this deal. so, for president obama, it did look like he caved. >> bill: but the reason that the republicans if you want to say they won and i'm not sure in the hearts and finds of americans that's the case, i think that it is so obvious, doctor, that the country is in economic peril, so obvious that you can't sustain a spending jihad like the democrats want to sustain. you heard krugman. you heard bar

host: charlottesville, virginia. caller: i like to know if there's an incentive to try to get some people using direct calls to save money. guest: thank you, walter. we're not going to be offering any incentives. we're running overtime in the system. we have done that in the past. we left off for some buyouts but righ >> we will take you live now to the iowa state fair grounds in a dozen lines for the coverage of mitt romney who will be speaking at the des moines register soap box boooth. >> to is a beautiful day, isn't it? we have a john deere men. >> what is the iowa plan? [applause] >> good to be here. >> good morning, everyone and welcome to the des moines register soapbox. i'm carol hunter, the politics editor and we are glad to welcome our first soapboxes the speaker of the affair. it is and mitt romney, a former governor of massachusetts. [applause] mr. romney is speak -- seeking the republican nomination for a presidency. let's give him in iowa or welcome. [applause] >> thank you, carole. thank you for the wo

joining us from washington david trucker from "roll call" and charlottesville, virginia, the aforementionedoctor dr. larry sabato. you are generous to president obama giving him toss-up status in florida and ohio, are you not? >> well, remember, as you said, bill, the election is 15 months away. if the election were this november, i would have given both of those toss-ups to the republicans assuming they nominated a mainstream candidate. >> bill: okay. but that's a little bit of a reuse, because your map reflects what's happening today. if the economy turns great, then a lot of these states are going to turn to different, i would say mr. obama will have a much better chance in a lot of these states. but, right now, in ohio, with john kasich governor and in florida with scott governor, both republicans, people really angry in both states, furious. the state polls say that president obama is losing among independents, certainly big time in both of those states. am i wrong? >> well, that's true today. but, actually, my matt is -- math is a projection of what i think it will be in november of 2

the people who really felt the earthquake strongly were the people who -- particularly around charlottesville, virginia. the university of virginia went running out of the buildings in a big hurry. for them, this was a very big earthquake. fortunately, no major damp and injuries. they felt it strongly. here, even though it's transferred through the ground efficiently, it's a long way away from the epicenter. we didn't feel the kind of earthquake that you and i are used to from the aftershocks in japan, which, of course, were at 6. >> are aftershocks almost assured? >> they've already occurred. a couple in the magnitude of 2. very small, almost inperceptible. the national geologist survey saying an aftershock of 4 or more would not be surprising. >> really? >> absolutely. that's standard for an earthquake. to get back to this other point. for nuclear power plants and everything else that's extremely dangerous, it's a wake-up call. there are earthquakes throughout the united states including in the east coast. >> and when you have something that's this big when i say this big comparatively, thi

the money raised is donated to the multiple sclerosis clinic in charlottesville, virginia. >>> oaklandhome to world series champs. the lynn-year-olds on the oakland babe ruth cal ripken team has won the world series. abc7 brought you the story a week ago when the team was struggling to raise money to fly all 13 players to beaver utah for the series. with the help of donations the team raise -- raised $12,000. the boys had a shutout series defeating the champs from i can bakers -- from bakersfield last night. >>> kids love robots and monkeys. and now, the 10-year drive to discover a shoulder-sitting silicon smarty pants. >> nick donaldson is in the monkey business. that guy on his should sermon key 1.0 who makes cheeky noises while performing a dozen behaviors. nick made him just for fun. >> every time i go out in public i get moped -- mobbed by people. >> the little robot was too expensive to manufacture. the motor inside cost $100. reduce their number took time hard work and his own clever design. >> the original one took two years to build. >> money ski 2 -- monkey 2.0 was dave. >> i

i mentioned that chief werner is a fire chief of the charlottesville fire department in virginia.harles werner is a 37-year veteran of the volunteer and career fire service. he celebrated his 33rd year with the charlottesville, virginia, fire department and presently serves as its fire chief. chief werner is a certified chief fire officer dez fortunate and a national fire academy fire executive graduate. he received numerous condemnations during his fire service career. he currently serves on the charlottesville albemarle county university of virginia emergency communications 911 center management board. and on the board of directors for the national alliance for public safety gis foundation. he serves on several state and national public safety communications and leadership committees including vice chair of the u.s. department of homeland security safecom executive question and part of the gis virtual executive committee, international association of fire chiefs technology council, virginia statewide interoperability executive committee and the fcc emergency response interoperab

i lived for a while in charlottesville, virginia. i know it's a small town. i imagine people are talking about this, calling in to 911, reporting what they've seen injurywise. what's the mood there? frightened? >> there's a lot of energy. people are out in the community. one thing about being a small rural community that we are, we've got volunteers out in every neighborhood that are trained and work with our fire and rescue and partner with our career fire and rescue personnel and our sheriff's department. so they are out in the community in droves just helping each other and responding to this emergency. >> amanda, thank you for calling in. of course, you know our number. if anything changes on your end, please pick up the phone and call cnn. you can send an i-report as well. >>> let's go to d.c. certainly a city that felt a lot of this. i have adam gluk on the line. adam, where were you when this thing hit? >> caller: i was actually in my office sitting at my desk wait fog ar a 2:00 meeting to start. all of a sudden the desk and the floor started shaking a

host: charlottesville, virginia. caller: i like to know if there's an incentive to try to get some people using direct calls to save money. guest: thank you, walter. we're not going to be offering any incentives. we're running overtime in the system. we have done that in the past. we left off for some buyouts but right now we have no plans. host: we have an e-mail from james. guest: no. most of our people over the years have left through attrition. we did have a small incentive for a management reduction this year. we reduced the head count of about 3500 people. we're still in the process with a number of people in the management ranks and we had a small buy out there. people have taken their retirement and gone on to something different. host: this is an e-mail from austin, texas. guest: he is correct. there are two different models that we have. the where we pay our rural the where we pay our rural carriers -- the way we pay our rural carriers -- they serve in the volume. you are paid the same all year long. that m

host: charlottesville, virginia. caller: i like to know if there's an incentive to try to get some people using direct calls to save money. guest: thank you, walter. we're not going to be offering any incentives. we're running overtime in the system. we have done that in the past. we left off for some buyouts but right now we have no plans. host: we have an e-mail from james. guest: no. most of our people over the years have left through attrition. we did have a small incentive for a management reduction this year. we reduced the head count of about 3500 people. we're still in the process with a number of people in the management ranks and we had a small buy out there. people have taken their retirement and gone on to something different. host: this is an e-mail from austin, texas. guest: he is correct. there are two different models that we have. the where we pay our rural the where we pay our rural carriers -- the way we pay our rural carriers -- they serve in the volume. you are paid the same all year long. that m

sabitow is the director of the university of virginia's center for politics and joins us live from charlottesvilleyou were 30 miles away from the epicenter yesterday. you live in one of thomas jefferson's 180-year-old houses. you had some damage, didn't you? >> i did. the earth moved under my feet and i was all shook up and all those other songs. it was intense. i rarely heard something that loud. >> steve: we're glad that there was not more damage. let's talk about political damage that the president is suffering. when you look at the unemployment rate currently in toss-up states like nevada and florida and iowa, new hampshire, and virginia, and ohio, this is not good news for the president. >> no. there is some swing states where i think it's really going to make a difference. for example, nevada, which has the worst unemployment rate in the country. that's 12%. it's really close to 13%. florida, a point and a half above the national average. some states have it lower. iowa, swing state, 6%. new hampshire, 5.2%. so the key point here, steve, is that basically we don't have a national election fo

you would not have that in charlottesville. [laughter] >> i had a friend who was a budweiser distributor. >> the phenomenon that happens -- and this is interesting to look at sociologically. the whole notion that this is a problem of west versus islam -- this is a war within islam about different people who are learning to cope with this law modernity. there is a very radical fringe. it is mostly focused on local conditions they dislike and a majority of bad develops a global agenda. that agenda and that narrative became very powerful during the 1990's as a function of history. but a useful way of thinking about this from a historical point of comparison is that the last phenomenon that reminds me a lot of this was the large- scale growth of european- centered anarchism which reached its peak around 1880 and 1920. this was a source of enormous fear and terror. it killed six heads of state around the world, including a president of the united states, william mckinley. self-radicalizing people inspired by ideologue's living in ex

these experiences in places like north carolina and colorado, but you would not have that in charlottesville it is true -- >> i had a friend who was the budweiser distributer and he was very, very busy. let's not go oversell this, all right? >> it's a very inclusive community. what happens here and this is why it's interesting to think about this problem sociologically. the whole notion this is a problem of west versus islam, of course that's completely wrong. war in islam about different people trying to cope with islam and within that there's a fairly radical fringe and the radical fringe is mostly focused on local conditions they like and minority of that develops a global agenda that attaches all of these evils to the united states. that agenda and that narrative became very powerful during the 1990's as a function of history. but a useful way of thinking about this historical point of comparison is the last phenomenon that reminds me a lot of this was the large-scale growth of european centered an arcism, which reached its peak between 1880 and 1920. this was a source of enormous fear a