More cracks from quake in Washington Monument

Office buildings, schools and iconic American landmarks were inspected Wednesday for possible structural flaws caused by Tuesday's rare East Coast earthquake.

The National Park Service said engineers discovered several additional cracks in the top portion of the Washington Monument during a daylong inspection of the interior of the monument. A 4-foot crack was discovered Tuesday during a helicopter inspection of the exterior shortly after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook the nation's capital.

The monument is closed to visitors indefinitely.

Public schools and a handful of federal government buildings in Washington remained closed for further assessment. When the quake struck, many feared terrorism in New York and Washington - places where nerves are raw as the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks approaches.

The most powerful earthquake to strike the East Coast in 67 years shook buildings and jarred as many as 12 million people. D.C. earthquake concern: Why didn't cellphones work?

The technological traffic jam that rendered cellphones useless in the wake of Tuesday's temblor has officials pondering a scary question: What happens if a real disaster strikes the nation’s capital?

"It's a serious concern for us,” one FCC official told POLITICO. The commission estimates roughly two-thirds of people use their cellphones to call 911.

Lacking cell service after Tuesday’s quake, many people turned to social media to communicate. “The Internet worked, Twitter worked,” Hundt said. “But the Internet doesn’t have 911 service. Earthquake Rocks Washington Area; Stateline Feels the Shock

The epicenter of a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck outside a small town in Virginia this afternoon.

Washington D.C. is about 90 miles from the epicenter. 23 News explains how those up high felt the ground shake below.

For most of us, news of an east coast earthquake was just that: news. Ryan Lundberg is among many in Rockford's City Hall who experienced the 5.9 earthquake first hand.

Just up State Street at Camelot Towers people felt it too.

City Hall wasn't the only building to be rocked by the quake: just up State Street at Camelot Towers several clinics were closed down for nearly an hour as staff checked over the building and pondered the cause.