08/23/11 Greenwich Post Breaking News Alert: Earthquake strikes Virgina, tremors felt in Greenwich - Where's The Greenwich Time? (UPDATED)

Thursday, August 4, 2011 Breaking News Alert Earthquake strikes Virgina, tremors felt in Greenwich. Story updated as reports come in. Tell us your story. Editor@greenwich-post.com. Read More MORE BREAKING NEWS IN THE AREA Earthquake evacuates New Haven Tennis Center Play was stopped and the venue evacuated at the New Haven Open in Connecticut on Tuesday after an earthquake that originated in Virginia shook the stadium on the Yale campus. The stadium was evacuated during the third game of a match between Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Elena of Russia of Russia. The stadium began shaking, and water bottles sloshed back and forth. Spectators felt three waves of shaking, and the umpire halted play. You Just Can't Depend On Hearst Newspapers To Cover Breaking News In Greenwich Why Aren't The Greenwich Times Local Reporting Staff Filing Reports On This Breaking Greenwich News Story? This Is What Is Being Reported On The Greenwich Time Website ..... Sailing not sunk Enthusiasts hope that excitement and passion for sailing will continue to fuel a resurgence of the sport after a few choppy years. A Hollywood homecoming The big-budget comedy shot in Greenwich marks the directorial debut and homecoming for a GHS alum. Number one with a bullet? Democrats are downplaying the likelihood that Drew Marzullo's loyalists will resort to "bullet voting" for the HERE IS HOW IT"S DONE HEARST NEW HAVEN REGISTER REPORTERS HAVEN REPORTERS AND HAVE STARTED FILING LOCAL NEWS REPORTS ABOUT THE QUAKE Earthquake: No immediate reports of structural damage in New Haven but nerves rattled Published: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 MORE PHOTOS Click thumbnails to enlarge By William Kaempffer, Register Staff wkaempffer@nhregister.com / Twitter: @kaempffer1 And Abbe Smith, Register Staff asmith@nhregister.com / Twitter: @abbegsmit Click to enlarge There have been no reports of anyEarthquake damage anywhere in New Haven, Mayor John DeStefano said during a briefing at the city’s Emergency Operations Center. By 3 p.m., the Fire Department had checked both local hospitals and given them the all clear. Tennis at the New Haven Open at Yale was halted and the building evacuated and that building was being checked out this afternoon. Downtown, there was widespread evacuations with virtually every highrise evacuated. City engineers and building management were checking those first. “We can’t check every floor of every building,” said Andrew Rizzo, the city’s top building official, so his staff was relying on building management. A primary concern, DeStefano said was the city’s aging utility system and the potential of natural gas leaks. So far, DeStefano said, there had been none. Around downtown, evacuees with frayed nerves congregated on the New Haven Green and on street corners. Nicole Benson and Heather Mezzacappa, both Yale University employees working in the First Niagara tower downtown, were on the 11th floor. The cubicles started swaying and then doors rattled and pictures on walls started swaying. “We got out of there really fast,” said Mezzacappa. Standing in groups, people continued to express disbelief. “I said, we don’t get earthquakes in Connecticut,” said Benson. “He said, ‘We do now.’” On Facebook, Elizabeth Reyes said: "Earthquake in New Haven?! Angelique Quinones felt the room moving and other items move. I felt my sofa moving as if I was riding a wave. Alexandra Quinones felt her bed moving, she thought someone was shaking her bed, until she noticed the fan moving also. 5.8 earthquake in Virgina, and we felt it here in New Haven. I hope we don't have any after shocks." According to city officials, both Union Station and and Tweed-New Haven Airport were open and all the city bridges were being inspected. One area of slight concern was the new Gateway Community College and the walkway that runs over George Street. Police closed down that block while it could be inspected. "We were up on the forth floor and it just started shaking like someone was pushing you back and forth," said Emanuel Gonzalez, a construction worker at the new Gateway Community College building At the New Haven Open at Yale, shortly after 3 p.m. Tournament Director Anne Worcester announced that the New Haven building inspector and Fire Marshal entered the main stadium building and the engineering department may come soon to further inspect the structure. "The U.S. Open just notified us that they they just resumed playing. Hopefully we can give you all the same news soon, she told the anxious crowd. The city activated its “reverse 911” emergency notification system and sent out a message recorded by DeStefano. The message alerted residents that the a magnitude 5.9 earthquake had occurred and the Emergency Operations Center was standing by to take calls regarding damaged structures or utility disruptions. The mayor asked residents not to call 911 except in true cases of emergency. Dozens of people self-evacuated from the Board of Education building at 54 Meadow St. when the quake stuck. Employees who worked on the top floors of the building said the whole structure swayed for a full minute or two, causing panic and sending people fleeing down stairwells. Betsey Mase, who works on the eighth floor, said she has been in bigger earthquakes in California, but this one lasted longer and was more “deceiving” because it was silent. “This was the longest one I have ever experienced. And I have been in some serious earthquakes in California,” she said. Mase said everything started swaying back and forth, so she told another colleague to get into a safe space such a doorway and to hold on. Pat DeMaio, who works with Mase on the eighth floor, took her advice and flew to a doorway. “We just held on!” she said. Mase and DeMaio were hanging out in the shade along Union Avenue with dozens of others who had fled the building. Among them were first-floor health department employees Jeanette Simon and Deborah Quinones, who were still shaken up almost an hour after the quake. “I felt it and it actually moved my chair and it moved the window and the shades were banging against the thing. That’s when I got up and left,” Simon said. Her first thought was that a car had hit the building and caused it to shake. Quinones heard a squeak and knew something was wrong because she felt dizzy. When she realized the floor was shaking, she decided to evacuate. “I was not going to wait for the building to come crumbling down,” she said Continued...