BREAKING NEWS: Earthquake tremors felt across North Fork

The tremors of a 5.8 earthquake 35 miles northwest of Richmond, Va. were felt as far away as Long Island at 1:54 p.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service in Upton. The earthquake was only six-tenths of a mile deep and the epicenter was east of Charlottesville, Va, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (Click to see map of the earthquake’s location.)

Mild shaking was reported across eastern Long Island and in Connecticut.

The Suffolk County Police Department is asking residents to remain calm.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley felt the tremor and ran out of his office to investigate, a member of his staff said.

Alex Wipf of Cutchogue said his wife was typing when they felt the quake.

“She asked me if I was fooling around with her chair,” he said.

He said he once lived in California, but said Tuesday’s tremors were “really mild” compared to those felt on the West Coast.

Nanette Doroski of Greenport was at home when the shaking started.

“The dishing in my china cabinet were shaking and my chair was shaking, ” she said.

Her husband, John, was up in the attic painting, but he didn’t feel it.

“I ran up and asked him, ‘are you doing anything to shake the house?'” she said.

Ms. Doroski said she also has felt earthquake tremblors while living in the Philippines, “But I never felt anything here, ever.”

Carol Gorman of Riverhead said she thought she imagined the shaking. “My pendant lamp as well as my keys in the door were swaying,” she said. “Then I knew I wasn’t crazy.”

In the early 1980s the North Fork shook from an earthquake centered under the Sound 10 miles north of Greenport. That quake caused no damage.

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