44°
MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Sylvia Olivera walked outside the AT&T store onto Mamaroneck Avenue at 1:53 p.m. Tuesday to see what was making the store vibrate. She never thought it could be an earthquake.
"It wasn't even a shake, I just saw everything moving little by little," said Olivera, who thought she was losing her mind when she saw the phone wires hanging from the wall moving ever so slightly. "I thought somebody had loud speakers, like somebody lived upstairs and was playing loud music."
The 5.9 magnitude tremor was centered near Mineral, Va., according to the United States Geological Survey (USGC). It hit around 1:53 p.m. Tuesday.
A few residents called the Village of Mamaroneck Police Department to report they felt the earthquake, but no one reported any damages, Detective Sandra DiRuzza said. Similarly, the town Police Department reported no damages, but a few people working at Town Center in the highway department office "got a little excited" when they felt the tremors, said Louis Martirando, superintendent of highways for the Town of Mamaroneck.
"We dispatched road crews out to inspect the roads and we took a cursory look at the Larchmont reservoir and other important infrastructure," Martirando said. "As of right now, there's no evidence of any structural damage."
Not every town in Westchester escaped the earthquake unscathed. Jeannie Meyers, a Mamaroneck resident, didn't feel anything, but her daughter Maria, 21, felt the building shake while shopping at Target in White Plains. "She said she thought she was losing her mind," Meyers said. "She's moving to San Francisco in May, so she thought she would have to wait until she got there to feel one."
Just a few streets over, both the county and federal courthouses in White Plains were briefly evacuated. Their doors reopened around 3 p.m.
Whether or not residents felt the brief rattling, everyone knew someone that had. Jaime Levine of Siren on Mamaroneck Avenue, whose lights flickered once before 2 p.m., heard Salon Posh on W Boston Post Road and Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville both felt strong tremors.
"At the beginning, it was a little scary, but then I got busy and pretty much forgot about it," said Olivera, who quickly realized what had happened after checking Facebook. "Everybody posted something about it."
Olivera then called her friend who works at Three Jalapenos down the avenue, who said the glasses hanging from the ceiling at the bar, the overhead lights and floor all shook. The latter sent one employee, Franco Brun, running for the door.
"I was scared, the floor started moving and I ran outside," he said. "The bar was moving and the lights flickered."
In each of their cases, the tremors only lasted a few seconds, and they went on with their day as normal.
Did you feel the earthquake Tuesday? Tell us where you were below, or joining the coversation on Facebook and Twitter.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Mamaroneck and receive free news updates.
