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Cleveland Indians fans wondered if a special effects explosion had
gone off at a nearby movie shoot. Spectators at a tennis tournament
in Connecticut felt as though a truck had smashed into the stadium.
Golfer Brendan Steele thought he was getting shaky over his
putts.
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East Coast sports fans were rocked by some unexpected excitement
Tuesday when a 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia sent
tremors from South Carolina to New England.
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Play was stopped and the venue evacuated at the New Haven Open. The
Washington Nationals delayed the start of their matchup with
Arizona by 20 minutes.
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Reporters noticed when the press box shook, but the game went on as
if nothing had happened in Cleveland, where the Indians beat the
Mariners, and at the Little League World Series.
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The Hammond family was celebrating son Liam’s 10th birthday with
his first Indians game – one he’ll never forget.
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“I thought it was the wind,” said Tim Hammond, Liam’s dad. “I know
the stadium is made to move, but I didn’t know what was moving it.
I was thinking maybe they blew something up on that movie
set.”
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Filming for “The Avengers” is taking place near the
ballpark.
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At the tennis tournament on Yale’s campus, 71-year-old John Ricci’s
first thought was of the stage collapse at a concert in
Indianapolis earlier this month. More than 4,000 people were
evacuated during a match between Jelena Jankovic and Elena Vesnina.
Spectators felt three waves of shaking, as water bottles sloshed
back and forth.
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Vesnina was leading 2-0 and about to serve, facing two break
points. Jankovic looked up in amazement as spectators rushed from
their seats. Seconds later, the chair umpire suspended
play.
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“On the court, we didn’t feel anything, but I saw the upper level,
and it was shaking. I said, `Oh, my God, what is going to happen?'”
Vesnina said. “I was really scared.”
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New Haven firefighters carrying axes walked in and out of the
stadium to the applause of fans waiting outside the main court. The
fire marshal later deemed the structure sound and let fans back in
more than two hours after the tremors hit.
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Play resumed at 4:15 p.m. when chair umpire Sandie French said,
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the resumption of play of a match
suspended because of an earthquake.” Fans in the stands chuckled,
and Vesnina prepared to serve.
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New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum was sitting at his
desk when the team’s training facility in Florham Park, N.J., shook
for a few seconds.
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“Usually when the building shakes, Rex is laughing, so that was my
first instinct,” Tannenbaum joked later.
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But it wasn’t guffawing from the Jets’ boisterous coach, Rex Ryan.
When Tannenbaum peered out into the hallway, about 50 people were
standing there, “with everyone kind of looking at each other like,
`Was that really an earthquake?'”
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In South Williamsport, Pa., Lamade Stadium briefly rattled during
the LLWS consolation game between Rotterdam, Netherlands, and
Cumberland, R.I. Players from Cumberland gasped when told in an
interview with reporters after their 8-7 win that there was an
earthquake.
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At home before the Yankees played Oakland, Nick Swisher said he was
“wondering why things were moving in my living room” on the 21st
floor. His thought: “Hey, I’m getting down on the ground.” Once he
reached the street, Swisher ran into teammate and neighbor Dave
Robertson.
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Greensboro, N.C., native John Isner was upstairs in the stadium at
the Winston-Salem Open men’s tennis tournament when his mother said
it felt like an earthquake.
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“And I was like, `Come on, Mom, there aren’t earthquakes in North
Carolina,'” he said.
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“I thought somebody was doing construction nearby, so I got on the
Internet, and it was up and down the East Coast,” Isner
added.
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At The Barclays golf tournament in Edison, N.J., Trevor Immelman
“felt like the putting green was on jelly.”
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Steele, who grew up in Idyllwild, Calif., has been through bigger
earthquakes.
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“But this is the first time I ever felt one on a golf course,” he
said.
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Chad Campbell was in the clubhouse, and it felt like being on
water.
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“That was my first one,” the Texas native said. “Didn’t think it
would be in New Jersey.”
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—
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AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson in Edison, N.J., AP Sports Writers
Genaro C. Armas in South Williamsport, Pa., Joedy McCreary in
Raleigh, N.C., Howie Rumberg in New York, Dennis Waszak Jr. in
Florham Park, N.J., and Tom Withers in Cleveland, Associated Press
writer Pat Eaton-Robb in New Haven, Conn., and AP freelance writer
Daimon Eklund in Washington contributed to this report.
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