Small earthquake rattles Amherst, Nelson residents

By: Duffy Taylor | New Era Progress
Published: November 26, 2009

Many Amherst and Nelson County residents experienced tremors from a small earthquake Wednesday evening, though no one was reported injured by the activity.

Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory director Martin Chapman said the earthquake started at 5:25 p.m. and was measured between 2.7 and 2.8 in magnitude. Its epicenter was near Gladstone on U.S. 60, about 10 miles east of Amherst.

Based on its measurements, the earthquake was relatively small, Chapman said.

The Amherst County 911 Center received several phone calls around 5:30 p.m. from residents in northern Amherst County who experienced the ground and their houses shaking, said Amherst County’s public safety director, Gary Roakes.

Roakes said that some residents reported pictures falling from the walls and one man reported the gutter on his roof had fallen during the tremors. No incidents of personal injury or major damage resulted from the earthquake, he said.

Nelson County Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Uttaro said that he had also received calls from residents, many of whom believed the rattles were the result of an explosion.

Gladstone Rescue Squad member Jerry Coffey said that he experienced the quake but other than a few tremors, there was no significant impact.

“It shook and it rattled. You could feel gravel shuffling under your feet,” Coffey said.

Chapman said that earthquakes of this size are routine in Virginia and typically occur every three or four months somewhere in the state.