Fitzgerald: Quake felt ‘like a train was going overhead’
Former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald was eating lunch in a McLean, Va. restaurant with fellow board members at his bank when the Washington, D.C., area’s largest recorded earthquake struck Tuesday.
“It sounded like a freight train was going overhead or underneath the restaurant,” Fitzgerald, formerly of Inverness, said.
The tremors, he said, went on for “a considerable period” — about 20 to 30 seconds.
“It felt long and it was growing in intensity and suddenly stopped,” Fitzgerald said.
The restaurant he was at — located inside a one-story strip shopping center — didn’t suffer any damage, and no patrons were hurt, he said, noting the manager urged everyone to keep calm.
Fitzgerald’s thoughts were on his family — who were at home just a few miles away in McLean.
As soon as he got outside, Fitzgerald said he called his wife and son.
“My wife was very scared and told me to come home,” he said.
“I said, ‘I can’t. I’ve got a board meeting.’”
Fitzgerald noted a nearby nuclear power plant has been shut down, and local condominium owners saw plates fall from their shelves and wine racks topple over.
“It was a considerable quake,” he said.