Virginia Earthquake, a 5.9, Felt in Monmouth County

Freehold residents are among the many in New Jersey who report feeling the brief shock in Monmouth County from today's Virginia earthquake.

"I am in Freehold and felt everything shaking, and shaking pretty vigorously," said David Kapulski, posting to Freehold Patch. "I was wondering what the, well you know."

The quake registered a magnitude of 5.9, and its epicenter was Mineral, Va., according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors natural occurances.

Numerous phone companies advised customers to text or e-mail and avoid making calls to cut down on call volume and improve cell service. Those companies included T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon.

"Seeing no reports of damage to our wireless network. There was some network congestion in the East after tremors," Verizon spokesman David Samberg posted on Twitter.

Trains, buses and light rail are all operating and NJTransit tickets are being cross-honored, Governor Chris Christie said in a statement.

measures after its sensors registered the quake.

Once the seismic event was verified the plant went into an "unusual event," which is considered the lowest level of their emergency plan, spokesperson Suzanne D’Ambrosio said. This activates the plant’s emergency response organization and emergency response procedures.

“While in the usual event, the plant operators and emergency personnel will walk the entire site to make sure nothing was affected by seismic event itself,” she said.

The plant is still at full power and the plant will be able to provide further information on the impact of the earthquake once it becomes available.

Oyster Creek, which began commercial operations in 1969, is the oldest operating nuclear plant in the country and provides enough around-the-clock electricity for 600,000 New Jersey homes.

Likewise,  were taken off line by safety systems when the quake hit.

A senior Obama administration told the Washington Post that the White House “shook pretty hard.”

Other Capitol buildings were also evacuated.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, New Jersey ranks low on the list of states at risk for experiencing an earthquake.

Northern New Jersey is put in a category that's low on the list and described as "having a hazard shaking of moderate intensity," which could be felt by all and could lead to slight damage.

Southern New Jersey is put in a category described as having "a small probability of experiencing damaging earth­quake effects."

According to the USGS Web site: "Since at least 1774, people in central Virginia have felt small earthquakes and suffered damage from infrequent larger ones."

Did you feel tremors in your home or place of business? Share your story in the comments section below.