2 Buildings Partially Collapse In Baltimore After Quake
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—An earthquake hits northern Virginia and the shaking is felt along the East Coast. Here in Baltimore people race to the streets for safety. There are reports of some damage around the city, but that damage is not major.
Meghan McCorkell has a look at a partial building collapse caused by the earthquake.
Police had several roads in the area of Highland Avenue and Conkling Street blocked off after two buildings partially collapsed.
"It was adrenaline. I was scared," said one man.
A witness told us he saw the wall of The Italian Club bend when the quake hit, and then the wall fell to the ground.
"After the blizzard of the century and the tornado and the floods, I don't think we should be surprised," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
Several neighbors tell us the entire neighborhood was shaking and they got very afraid for their own buildings because a lot of the buildings in the area are pretty old. They thought the whole neighborhood was going to come down.
"I wasn't expecting all this. Although these houses were approaching 100 years old," said one.
Police say no one was injured, but they are going to keep the streets blocked until both buildings are designated as safe.
"All of a sudden, it sounded like the ceiling was falling in on top of our heads," said one woman.
The other building collapsed on Conkling Street. That building was under construction. It is very unstable right now.
"I turned my head and saw pieces just come down from the top," said one man.
Inspectors are inside of both buildings trying to evaluation the damage. They don't know if they will tear the buildings down or whether they can be rebuilt. There's a lot of questions about what's going to be done with these properties.
Inspectors checked all the bridges in the city and all have been deemed structurally sound.
