I live on Capitol Hill and am just back from walking my pup. A friend on the next block said that plaster in his upstairs cracked.

These brick rowhouses are 100 years old.

This friend is also in the process of buying a home in Richmond and has now been advised that it would now need to be re-appraised.

So there is reverb. Traffic has been quite heavy in the past hour as people are going home early as many office buildings have been closed pending inspection.

Most buildings here just were not built with any thought given to earthquakes.

When the quake was happening I really thought there had been a massive explosion.

Be prepared!