A small earthquake measuring about 2.5 in magnitude struck East Columbia late Monday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’ s website.

The quake struck at 5:17 p.m. USGS coordinates placed its origin at Hopewell Park on Rustling Leaf, which is just south of Lake Elkhorn in the Owen Brown neighborhood, north of Snowden River Parkway. The depth of the temblor was reported to be about 5 miles, making it a fairly shallow shaker.

But residents in Columbia were alarmed. The shaking about 2 1/2 miles west in the Clemens Crossing neighborhood in Hickory Ridge in West Columbia sent many neighbors out onto the street to see what had just happened. But nothing seemed amiss, according to one resident.

More than 80 people submitted reports to the USGS website.

The Howard County Polic

See Full Page