When the ground shook just before 2 p.m. today, library director Gail Ross and most of the rest of the crew at the Arbutus Branch Library thought one of the construction vehicles outside had bumped into the building.
But staff member Tina Pickens, who once lived in California, knew immediately what was happening and urged people to seek shelter in a doorway.
After a 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia stopped, the library had no damage and only about a half dozen books to pick up, Ross said.
To be safe, Ross said the library evacuated everyone from the building at 855 Sulphur Spring Road until the maintenance supervisor gave the all clear about two hours later.
"It was smooth here," Ross said about the earthquake proceedings. "We walked around and saw cracks, but they're probably just settlement cracks that were there before."
The Lansdowne Branch Library wasn't so lucky. It was closed because of a crack found in the building that may have been caused by the earthquake, Ross said.
"Until it can be checked structurally, it'll be closed," said Ross, who also serves as library director.
Ross said the structure's re-opening depends on how soon its stability can be checked.
One of the smallest buildings in Arbutus remains perfectly stable.
Cymea Saradpon was making a custard and strawberry snowball at The Eskimo Shack on Oregon Avenue when the earthquake hit, she said.
"I felt the floor rocking kind of like when you're on a boat and it's anchored," Saradpon recalled only hours after the earthquake. "I thought at first it was the ice cream machine."
Despite the shaking, Saradpon said the building didn't sustain any damage.
Not even the stacks of Styrofoam cups sitting on a shelf above her head fell, she noted.
Even without much damage happening in Arbutus, Saradpon said the earthquake is a hot topic.
"Almost everybody who comes up today asks about it," Saradpon said with a laugh.