Quake shakes Indians fans, delays Nats

CLEVELAND, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The earthquake that rocked the eastern United States Wednesday shook baseball fans in Cleveland and caused a delay in the start of a game in Washington.

The 5.9-magnitude quake, centered in Virginia, rattled cities all along the Eastern Seaboard and as far west as Ohio, where fans attending the a game between the Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners felt the jolt.

The Indians' Shin-Soo Choo was batting in the third inning and smacked a double while the ground was shaking at Progressive Field. Reporters in the stadium press box felt the quake, which lasted about 30 seconds, WOIO-TV, Cleveland, reported.

The 1:51 p.m. EDT earthquake forced a delay in the start of a night game in Washington between the Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks as team officials checked the stadium.

"The safety of the fans comes first and foremost," Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo told the regional sports network MASN. "We had the civil engineers coming in to check out the structure."

Rizzo said the game was also delayed to give the Diamondbacks time to get to the ballpark through a massive traffic jam caused when federal employees were sent home from work early.