U.S. Earthquake Updates: Washington Monument Damaged by Earthquakes in the East Coast, California Hit by Earthquake on the West Coast

In the pre-dawn hours yesterday, the East Coast of the United Stated was hit by an earthquake resistering just over a magnitude of 2. A Few hours later, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit the same area causing evacuations and apparently damaging the Washington Monument in Washington DC.

The quakes in the East also coincided with an earthquake reported in southern Colorado in the morning as well.

Late last night on the west coast at about 11:36PM a 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit the bay area in California and was later followed by 2.7 quake in Orange County and a 2.3 quake near Oakland minutes later.

In the nation’s capital, the Washington Monument was closed when inspectors found cracks in stones near the top of the 500+ foot structure. While the structural inspections continue the monument will remain closed by the National Park Service. There are no estimates as to when the monument may re-open to tourists.

While several Nuclear power plants performed automatic shut downs in response to the earthquakes, so far no damage has been reported and all are currently back online.

No speculation as of yet as to why all of the earthquake activity occurred on the same day across the United States.