East Coast earthquake disrupts business (UPDATES)

The internet is, naturally, abuzz with news of today's earthquake on the East Coast.

The magnitude 5.9 quake was centered in Virginia and was felt from Atlanta, to Detroit, to New York City and — yes, even the GlobalPost headquarters in Boston.

So how is the rare quake affecting business in the region? Here's a quick round-up:

• Flights were halted temporarily at New York's JFK airport, Newark's Liberty International, and Philadelphia International. Washington's Reagan International Airport remained closed as of this writing. 
• Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol Building were shuttered. Other national monuments in Washington, D.C. were also closed. 
• The North Anna nuclear power plant, located closest to the Virginia epicenter is shut down and in a safe condition, a company official and the Louisa County public information office reported. There has been no release of nuclear material, Louisa County spokeswoman Amanda Reidelbach said, according to CNN. 
• Cell phone coverage was spotty up and down the cost shortly after the earthquake. Verizon, Sprint and AT&T customers on Twitter all reported minor disruptions in service. "We are seeing no reports of damage to our wireless network," said Verizon spokesman Jeff Nelson told CNNMoney. "Everything returned to normal quickly once the tremors ended. We'll continue to monitor the network."
• Amtrack is reporting some service disruptions between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, CNN reported.
• Office buildings across New York City were evacuated, and the press conference on the latest Dominique Strauss-Kahn news was disrupted by the quake, which struck about 30 seconds into the event.

Officials warned that more aftershocks should be expected across the region.

Here's how the New York Times explained it:

Dr. Arthur Lerner-Lam, head of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Division of Seismology, said the earthquake occurred in a part of Central Virginia that is known as an area of geologically old faults, created several hundred million years ago when the Appalachian Mountains were forming. The area has frequent small earthquakes; the largest previously recorded was one of magnitude 4.8 in 1875.

“We do expect earthquakes to occur here,” he said. “Not as frequently as in California, but this is not a surprise.” He described the Central Virginia earthquakes as “kind of a randomized reactivation of these geologically old structures” as opposed to the tremors that occur along an active fault such as the San Andreas in California. 

Now get back to work.