Washington, DC - An increasingly strong vibration coupled with a sound like progressively stronger rolling thunder woke residents of Northwest Washington DC and suburban Maryland this morning at 5am. According to the USGS earthquake center, the quake had a magnitude of 3.6 on the Richter scale and was centered near Rockville, MD at a depth of approximately 3.1 miles.

 Earthquakes are a rare occurrence in the mid-Atlantic region. For a more detailed tectonic summary in English and Spanish click this link: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2010yua6.php#summary