Earthquake brings to mind panic of 9/11

Earthquake brings to mind panic of 9/11:
A rumble, and then the floor jerked, and Sarah Saadian, a block from the White House, had one thought: Terrorism.Konnie Hooton felt the shake and instantly assumed “an attack.”Lacey Boling was in a room with 25 others. When everything went jittery, she figured the Metro, several stories below, had been blown up.In Washington, 10 years later, every day is Sept. 12. When the office ceiling shifts to and fro, and the pens and cups fall off the desk, it’s scary enough. But in a terror-scarred city, thoughts go immediately to evil attack rather than natural disaster.John Williams was working construction on a building across from Lafayette Park when the earthquake hit Tuesday afternoon. “I thought it was a terrorist, being here where we are,” he said. It wasn’t until he got onto the sidewalk that he saw the news of the quake on his cellphone.Saadian, who works at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, near the Treasury Department, said that at first, the panic in the office felt like Sept 11. People streamed onto the street, and only then did she register that this was no man-made event: “Once I saw people chatting, I knew it was okay. Because on September 11th, it was just silent — quiet and creepy.
Quake damages National Cathedral, Washington Monument:
The East Coast earthquake damaged three of the four pinnacles atop the main tower of the landmark Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, and there were visible cracks in the church's structure. A crack was also found near the top of the Washington Monument.The cathedral's pinnacles are the top spires on the cathedral's towers and are the highest point in the city. The tops of the pinnacles — capstones known as finials — fell off, littering the surrounding grounds with stones and small chunks of rubble.It's not massive damage but it's very serious," Sam Lloyd, dean of the National Cathedral, said.There are also cracks in the flying buttresses at the cathedral's east end, the oldest part of the structure, which often has been the site of funerals and memorials for presidents and other members of the nation's political elite.A statement issued by the cathedral said the buttresses supporting the main, central tower appeared to be sound, and the tower itself was not leaning as a spokesman had reported previously.The statement said there are some cracks on upper floors in the interior of the church, but no damage to stained glass windows has been reported.The cathedral, popular with tourists, has been evacuated and closed and stone masons are assessing the damage. Structural engineers are expected to survey the damage overnight.Built between 1907 and 1990, the cathedral is an Episcopal Church landmark in the nation's capital and is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world. Located in northwest Washington near foreign embassies and the vice president's residence, the Gothic-like structure rises higher than the Washington Monument and its spires are the highest point in the city.Tuesday night the National Park Service said engineers have found a crack near the top of the Washington Monument presumably caused by the earthquake.Park service spokesman Bill Line said that structural engineers found the crack where the 555-foot landmark narrows considerably.He says the lower portions checked out fine earlier but later they found the crack. He says the monument will be closed indefinitely to keep the public safe.An outside engineering service will study the crack on Wednesday. He says it's too early to say what would be involved in fixing it.The 91,000-ton monument is made of Maryland marble.”