Seismologist Say El Paso Could See Magnitude 7 Earthquake

EL PASO, Texas -- Wood house are very flexible in an earthquake... Adobe could come collapsing down.

Seismologist say El Paso could experience a magnitude 7 earthquake.

The Franklin Mountains are proof that the El Paso area has scene earthquakes. The last big tectonic plate shifts were close to 5,000 years ago.

Just east of the mountains, underground, is a fault line called the Rio Grande Rift that runs all the way to Colorado.

A couple of earthquakes were felt in El Paso in April and May. The larger ones happened about 80 miles south of El Paso, in Chihuahua, Mexico.

People don't really think of El Paso as an earthquake place because most earthquakes happen on the edge of tectonic plates and we're in the middle of the North American plate but so is Washington D.C. and all of Colorado.

Diane Doser is a geological professor at the University of Texas in El Paso. She explains that earthquakes can occur in the middle of a tectonic plates.

Doser said there are plenty of websites that give tips on earthquake preparedness.

Earthquake Has Some Looking At New Madrid Fault

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The rare earthquake that shook the East coast on Tuesday afternoon is causing some folks in the mid-state to look twice at our own earthquake threat from the New Madrid fault.

The fault has caused massive earthquakes before including four of the largest earthquakes in North America's history.

The massive quakes in 1811 and 1812 caused the Mississippi River to supposedly flow backwards and created Reelfoot Lake.

"The geologists and seismologists tell us that we're probably going to experience some type of event which will cause damages, about a 50 percent chance in the next 60 years. And so we're ready, we want everybody in the state to be ready for that," said Cecil Whaley with TEMA.

Experts said there's no need to panic, like many did in 1990 when a seismologist said the conditions were right for a massive earthquake. Fortunately, that prediction did not come to pass.

The magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck Virginia on Tuesday was the largest on the East Coast since one of the same strength in New York in 1944.

The epicenter of Tuesday's quake, which hit at 1:51 p.m. EDT, was 3.7 miles underground near Mineral, Va., and about 90 miles southwest of Washington. It could be felt as far south as South Carolina and up into Martha's Vineyard where President Barack Obama was vacationing.

It was the largest in Virginia since a 5.9 temblor in 1897. The largest East Coast quake on record was a 7.3 in South Carolina in 1886.

Pat Summitt determined to face down Alzheimer's challenge

Pat Summitt,the coach with more wins than anyone else in college basketball history, woman or man, has early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type

Summitt, 59, will continue to coach, and that's the part of Tuesday's shocking news that makes it seem as if she is staring down her disease with the same icy glare she made famous while winning eight national championships, 1,071 games and the respect of a nation that didn't pay much attention to women's sports in the days when she was growing up.

Summitt, entering her 39th season as coach at the University of Tennessee, got the diagnosis in May and told the world about it Tuesday afternoon. Reaction was shock giving way to dismay, tempered by admiration for her fighting spirit.

"It's like finding out a close family member is ill," said transportation safety consultant Kevin Galbreath, a UT alumnus and fervent fan.

"Pat Summitt is our John Wooden," Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey said. "No matter how many national championships (other coaches) win, there will never be another Pat."

Summitt wrote an open letter to the university community Tuesday. "I plan to continue to be your coach," she wrote. "Obviously, I realize I may have some limitations with this condition since there will be some good days and some bad days. For that reason, I will be relying on my outstanding coaching staff like never before."

Born: Patricia Sue Head, June 14, 1952, in Clarksville, Tenn.

Family: Married R.B. Summitt in 1980; divorced in 2007. They have one child, son Tyler, born in 1990. He’s a student at Tennessee.

College: Tennessee-Martin, Class of 1974. An All-America player at UT-Martin, she was on the USA’s silver medal team at the 1976 Olympics. In 1984, she coached the USA to a gold medal, becoming the first in U.S. Olympic basketball history to play on and coach medal-winning teams.

Coaching record: 37 seasons, all at Tennessee, 1,071-199 (.843). The wins are the most for a basketball coach at any four-year college or university, men’s or women’s.

NCAA championships Eight (1987, ’89, ’91, ’96, ’97, ’98, 2007, ’08), most among NCAA Division I women’s coaches and second only to the late John Wooden’s 12 with the UCLA men among all NCAA coaches. Summitt also has 18 Final Four appearances, most among all Division I coaches (men or women).

Of note: Member of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Courts at Tennessee-Martin (Pat Head Summitt Court) and Tennessee (The Summitt) named in her honor. There also are streets named after her on those campuses.

Sources: USA TODAY research, University of Tennessee

Compiled by Craig Bennett

Alzheimer's is not yet curable. That is perhaps the only known quantity in all this. What lies ahead is mostly about the unknown — how her condition might progress, how stress might affect it, how her players might react to all the attention focused on the health of their coach.

"Life is an unknown and none of us have a crystal ball," UT athletics director Joan Cronan said in a statement. "But I do have a record of knowing what Pat Summitt stands for: excellence, strength, honesty and courage."

Beth Kallmyer, senior director of constituent services for the Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association, talked about stress and Alzheimer's generally, not specifically about Summitt's case.

"Like any illness, stress and high stress positions can certainly affect it," Kallmyer said. "If somebody's got an illness, stress can exacerbate that."

Kallmyer said it is important to monitor stress by working with doctors and eating and sleeping right: "It's important to have that support team. Who's going to help and let them know when they need to slow down?"

Summitt told Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins— who wrote a biography of Summitt and considers Summitt her best friend — that she began to worry about her health last season when she drew a blank on an offensive set during a game. (The Lady Vols went 34-3, won the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament and lost in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament.)

Summitt learned of her diagnosis at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Jenkins wrote that Summitt almost punched the first doctor who told her. When a second advised her to retire immediately, Summitt said, "Do you know who you're dealing with?"

Geno Auriemma does. The Connecticut coach is Summitt's chief rival, their feud so bitter that the programs no longer play in the regular season.

"You don't necessarily associate dementia with people our age, so this announcement really put things in perspective," Auriemma, 57, said in a statement. "There is no doubt in my mind that Pat will take on this challenge as she has all others during her Hall of Fame career — head on. I wish her all the best."

Well wishes came in from all over the country. John Thompson, the former men's coach at Georgetown, was talking about the Virginia earthquake that shook Washington, D.C., on his radio show Tuesday afternoon when he switched gears to talk about the shock of Summitt's news.

"She's simply one of the best," Thompson said, adding that he always believed she could have succeeded coaching men's teams, too.

Oddly, Dean Smith, the former North Carolina men's coach who was the winningest coach in college basketball history at the time of his retirement in 1997, suffers from a "progressive neurocognitive disorder" affecting his memory.

Washington Monument Indefinitely Closes After Earthquake Causes Cracks

WASHINGTON –  After reports of the Washington Monument possibly leaning due to a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Virginia Tuesday, the National Park Services has revealed an inspection found cracks in the stones at the top of the Monument. 

The NPS released a statement after completing a secondary inspection that structural engineers will evaluate the cracks Wednesday to determine the best way to repair the Monument before reopening it to the public. 

The Washington Monument grounds have been reopened except for an area about 100 feet outside of the plaza. 

The initial reports of the Monument leaning due to the earthquake have previously been called false by U.S. Park officials

Central Va., East Coast recovering from 5.8 quake

One of the most powerful earthquakes in Virginia history rippled from its epicenter in Louisa County throughout the eastern United States, but injured few people and caused little major structural damage.

The tremor measured 5.8 on the Richter scale at 1:51 p.m. today, prompting buildings to empty, cell phone service to go silent and two nuclear reactors near the center of the quake to shut down without damage.

Six students and at least one staff member at Louisa High School were injured in the quake, but only one was hospitalized.

“The very good news is that the damage and the injuries that have been reported are very, very minor,” Gov. Bob McDonnell said in a news conference this afternoon.

In downtown Richmond, three elderly residents of a high-rise apartment building were hospitalized for medical conditions and a dozen more examined at the scene after they were evacuated, but no one was injured. The 250 residents were allowed to return to their apartments last night.

A local emergency was declared in Louisa, where the quake began almost 5 miles from the town of Mineral, and where property damage was most pronounced.

“That was quite a jolt,” said Nancy Loveless, who lives in Goochland County near the Louisa line and lost power briefly.

The earthquake disrupted life this afternoon along the East Coast, causing the federal government to send workers home, members of the White House staff to huddle in a driveway, and the Washington Nationals baseball team to delay the start of a game scheduled tonight.

McDonnell was in his office in the Patrick Henry Building in Capitol Square talking with his son at the University of Virginia when he felt the building begin to shake.

“I asked my son to hang on and he said, 'Dad, I feel it here, too.' And that's when I knew it was something more than just a local event or something going on with our building,” the governor said.

Maryland officials closed the Route 301 Harry W. Nice Bridge across the Potomac River for about two hours to inspect it. It was reopened at 4 p.m. The Virginia Department of Transportation was inspecting bridges throughout the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Culpeper regions.

Transportation officials found no damage in the four highway tunnels in the Hampton Roads area or two mountain tunnels on Interstate 77 in Southwest Virginia.

They said the biggest problem they face is manmade. The simultaneous closure of federal offices led to enormous road and rail congestion in Northern Virginia.

Though Richmond International Airport was able to operate normally after the earthquake, the FAA control tower was evacuated as a precaution for less than 10 minutes today, according to airport spokesman Troy Bell.

Some flights to RIC from northeastern U.S. locations were late because of earthquake-related ground delays at their departure airports, Bell said.

The quake occurred as Virginians voted in 16 legislative primaries across the state. The governor said it did not appear that any polling place was inactive for more than 30 minutes.

Locally, the quake led Virginia Commonwealth University to cancel its convocation ceremony for new students at the Landmark Theater and prompted Richmond to close City Hall for the day to ensure its safety.

No injuries or significant damages were reported in localities in the Richmond region, but the quake prompted a flurry of emergency calls in Richmond that mostly proved unfounded.

The biggest initial concern centered on Dominion Virginia Power’s North Anna nuclear plant near Mineral about 40 miles northwest of Richmond. The earthquake knocked out power at the plant, but both nuclear units were shut down without incident and no damage was apparent, Dominion said.

“We did lose on-site power, but all the diesel generators are up and running,” Dominion spokesman Richard Zuercher said 30 minutes after the quake. “Everything appears to be operating just fine.”

Zuercher said North Anna's operators were preparing to manually shut down the units after the quake when the power station's operating system automatically powered down both units, which supply about 10 percent of the state’s electricity.

“Their staff is obviously looking at every inch of that plant,” the governor said.

The quake was the biggest in Virginia since May 5, 1897, when a 5.9 tremor began in Giles County and was felt in 12 states.

For more on the quake and how central Virginia is recovering, see tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch

Earthquake news tips sent to The Baltimore Sun

Henry Fostel, Towson (1:51 p.m.): We just experienced a small earth quake at 1:50pm in Towson.

Karen A. Fitze, Towson, Timonium and Selbyville, Del. (1:57 p.m.): An earthquake just hit Towson, Timonium, AND Selbyville, Delaware.

Catherine Bedolla, Ellicott City (1:58 p.m.): Was that just an earthquake in Ellicott City?  We shook for a good 5 seconds w/ blinking lights.

Bruce Sandler, Catonsville, Ruxton (1:58 p.m.): mild earthquake 5 min ago in Catonsville. also Ruxton.

Pat Dumroese, Columbia (1:58 p.m.): Earthquake just hit Columbia, MD, a few minutes ago.

Dan Brawdy, Columbia (1:59 p.m.): earthquake... columbia..., about 1:50 pm. the whole house shook as did our neighbors

Peter Cohen, Catonsville (1:59 p.m.): At approximately 1:50 PM Spring Grove Hospital Center experienced an earthquake. My wife recorded the same tremor in Aspen Hill Maryland. No damage to the building or to the inhabitants at our building but can't verify any other structures on the campus.

Shawn Arnwine, Severna Park (1:59 p.m.): earthquake felt in Severna Park, latest approximately 15 seconds. 5.8 out of VA according to US Geo.

Kathleen Gerry, Linthicum (2:00 p.m.): Felt like we had an earthquake by BWI

Nancy Swierk, Cockeysville (2:01 p.m.): Did we just have an earthquake in Cockeysville? At ~ 1 :56pm all Of Broadmead retirement Community felt the ground and buildings shake.

Patrick Smith, Jessup (2:03 p.m.): THERE WERE JUST SERIOUS TREMORS OR SOME SORT OF TURBULENCE IN JESSUP, MD OFF OF PATUXENT RANGE ROAD. OUR ENTIRE BUILDING SHOOK PRETTY SUBSTANTIALLY FOR ABOUT 15 SECONDS. WE WENT OUTSIDE AND EVERYONE HAD LEFT THE BUILDING TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON. ANY SIMILAR NEWS FROM THIS AREA?

Joanne, Columbia (2:03 p.m.): There was just an earthquake. We felt it in Columbia, Maryland.

Steven D. Goodman, Eastern Shore (2:03 p.m.): Has anyone reported an earthquake on the Eastern Shore? I have never felt one before, but I can't imagine what else it could have been. My house shook for about 5 seconds or more. No damage that I know of, but my neighbor felt it as well.

Matt Czapanskiy, Catonsville (2:04 p.m.): there was just an earthquake in catonsville. i guess 4.5 on the richter...

Joshua Berlow, Baltimore (2:05 p.m.): there was an earthquake here in Baltimore City, the building was shaking in Guilford and I called my wife in Mt vernon and they felt it too about ten minutes ago

John Lauro, Baltimore (2:06 p.m.): how large was the earth quake just now? i know people felt it all accross the city

Kate Masterton, Towson (2:06 p.m.): We just had an apparent earthquake in Towson. My whole building shook, items flew off shelves and a picture came off the wall. People are gathered outside. 911 will not answer.

Malcolm L. Kovacs, Northwest Baltimore (2:06 p.m.): earthquake-like tremors here in Greenspring in NW Baltimore shook homes & frightened residents to vacate

Dave Perkoski, Baltimore County (2:07 p.m.): Did we have an earthquake in Baltimore County just before 2:00 p.m? Ground moved, clock fell off the wall.

Jason Fowler (2:12 p.m.): Earthquake! Want to post something about it PLEASE!

Gerard J. Cohee, Catonsville (2:13 p.m.): Earthquake in Catonsville!

Deborah C. Dopkin, Towson (2:15 p.m.): Tremors -- an earthquake -- downtown, Towson, and where else. Baltimore County has evacuated the Courthouse building.

Steve Purchase, Federal Hill (2:24 p.m.): We survived the Baltimore Quake of 2011!

Jim Schammel, White Marsh (2:46 p.m.): Earthquake rattle in White Marsh area? Glass cabinets shook and rattled at 1:50 pm EDT in area of Silver Spring Road and Rt. 1 near White Marsh.