Earthquake damage at Saint Peter's on Capitol Hill and Saint Patrick's in Fells Point

Churches take hit as quake shakes East Coast
posted by Rob Kerby, Senior Editor | 6:06am Wednesday August 24, 2011

Churches seemed to bear the brunt of Tuesday’s 5.8 earthquake on the East Coast.

Damage was reported to Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral and St. Peter’s Catholic Church, historic St. Patrick’s Church near Baltimore, and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Culpepper, Va., close to the Mineral, Va., epicenter ...

The Archdiocese of Baltimore closed St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Fells Point after its steeple and bell tower were damaged, reported Matthew Hay Brown for the Baltimore Sun.

“Archbishop Edwin O’Brien is scheduled to survey the damage to the113-year-old church on Wednesday morning,” wrote Brown. ”The archdiocese said it expects to determine then whether the parish hall can be used for mass until the church is reopened. If the hall is also deemed unsafe, the archdiocese said, parishioners will be encouraged to attend Mass at nearby Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Highlandtown.

“The church was founded in 1792; the current church was completed in 1898.”

At least two churches in the Washington area felt the force of the earthquake, reporting falling debris and superficial damage.

St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill was cordoned off with police tape after chunks of concrete and stone were dislodged.

“It seems that a pedestal from the very top part, not the tower of the bell tower, but the pedestal of the church, seems to have fallen forward onto the front stairs,” said St. Peter’s priest Father William Byrne.

The National Cathedral also suffered minor damage during the quake.

“All of the sudden, everything began shaking at once,” said Sam Lloyd, the Cathedral’s dean.

The historic church, which is officially called St. Alban’s Church, lost the top of three of its four pinnacles atop one of its towers.

“There has been some damage, particularly in the central tower for some of the decorative pieces, and there are some cracks around we are going to be checking out.”

While the cosmetic damage is troubling, Lloyd says that so far, there doesn’t seem to be any structural damage to the cathedral.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, traveling 3.7 miles beneath the earth’s surface and momentarily jarring as many as 12 million people. It was the most powerful earthquake to strike the East Coast in 67 years. There were no reports of deaths, but fire officials in Washington said there were at least some injuries.

The U.S. Park Service evacuated and closed all monuments and memorials along the National Mall. The Pentagon, the White House, the Capitol and federal agencies in and around Washington were evacuated.

Residents of the U.S. West Coast, who are used to the earth moving couldn’t help but take a jab or two.

“Really all this excitement over a 5.8 quake??? Come on East Coast, we have those for breakfast out here!!!!” wrote Dennis Miller, a lifelong California resident whose Pleasanton home sits on a fault line.


Read more at Beliefnet: http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2011/08/churches-take-hit-as-5-8-earthquake-hits-east-coast.php#ixzz1Vx4IJdYF