THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANNANDALE -- A small earthquake shook the Washington area today, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Some residents reported feeling tremors, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

The earthquake occurred at 1:30 p.m., and the epicenter was about a mile from Annandale. The Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 1.8.

Earthquakes with a magnitude of about 2.0 or less are called microearthquakes, and about 1,000 occur around the world each day, said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

Earthquakes are rare, but not unheard of, in the Washington area. In September 1997, a magnitude-2.5 earthquake was recorded near Manassas, Presgrave said. And in February 2005, a magnitude-2.1 earthquake was recorded on the southern edge of Baltimore.