Earthquake in Virginia, USA. Magnitude 5.9: Shakes Washington DC, NYC

An earthquake in Virginia rocked much of the East Coast Tuesday afternoon, with early reports of shaking being felt all the way from Charlotte, N.C., to New York City and Ohio.

The U.S.G.S. says that the quake had a magnitude of 5.9 and that its epicenter was 4 miles south of Mineral, Virginia, and 83 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.

The federal agency had originally assigned the quake a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 in the immediate aftermath of the quake. The earthquake occurred roughly 0.6 miles below the earth's surface.

News of the earthquake quickly dominated Twitter, with users suggesting that they felt the quake up and down much of the Atlantic Coast and even as far away as Toronto.

Reuters reports that both the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol building were being evacuated shortly after the shaking started.