What the east coast earthquake means for US nuclear plants

Guardian UK - Shortly before 2 on Tuesday, Climate Central's Princeton office shook unmistakably. It was obvious that the earth had moved, and within moments, we learned that the epicenter of the 5.9-magnitude quake was in Louisa, Virginia, Southeast of Charlottesville and northwest of Richmond. The shaking was dramatic in Washington, D.C., and felt to some degree all the way north to Boston (a colleague with a birds-eye view reported cars backing carefully out of the Holland Tunnel that connects New York City to New Jersey).

Tuesday's earthquake on the US east coast shut down two nuclear reactors. Seismic activity in the US is unlikely to cause a meltdown, but it poses serious engineering challenges.  Read more.