kentucky environmental attorney Sanders says Washington D.C. is rocking and rolling due to a small earthquake. Republican leaders blame it on Obama

The strongest earthquake ever recorded near Washington, D.C. rattled the capital city. It occurred early Friday, July 16, 2010, waking many residents but causing no reported damage.  The quake hit at 5:04 a.m. ET with a magnitude of 3.6, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was centered near Rockville, Md., the USGS said.

Earthquakes in Maryland and Northern Virginia are uncommon but not unprecedented. In the past four decades, there have been about a dozen magnitude 2.0 and higher earthquakes within 100 km (60 miles) of the July 16 earthquake. The largest earthquake on record in Virginia is a magnitude 5.9 in Giles County on May 31, 1897. More recently in the broader area, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on April 22, 1984. This Pennsylvania earthquake caused slight damage at Conestoga, Lampeter, Mt Nebo and New Providence and was felt from West Virginia to Connecticut.

A series of small, felt earthquakes spanning March to July 1993 occurred near Columbia, Maryland, within 33 km (20 miles) of the July 16, 2010 earthquake. The largest in this series was a magnitude 2.7 in March, 1993. On May 5, 2003 a magnitude 3.9 event struck near Cartersville, Virginia about midway between Charlottesville and Richmond. That earthquake was felt widely in central Virginia and in parts of Maryland. The most recent earthquake in this region was a magnitude 2.0 event on May 6, 2008 near Annandale, Virginia.