Washington Monument Stands a Little Shorter After Quake

Remember the 5.9-magnitude quake that hit Virginia last summer, rattling nearby D.C. just 80 miles away? Apparently that little quake did a bit more damage to the Washington Monument than originally thought. According to experts, that one quake caused the iconic monument to sink one whole millimeter more than it normally should.

Surveyors say that the land around the monument is down a bit: 2 millimeters since August, which is one more than what is normal.Now of course that only amounts to a fraction of an inch, so you may be asking yourself, “what’s the big deal?” Well, in geological terms that’s a pretty dramatic change, and one millimeter is enough to get some experts worried, especially since the National Mall is largely built upon what amounts to “swampland.”

“That’s way more than we can live with,” says the chief federal surveyor. “Almost one millimeter could be accounted for just in normal settlement. Something beyond that might be a result of the earthquake.”

The monument did take a pretty serious jolt from the quake and has been since closed for repair. It’s looking like it won’t open again until next year. The monument is the tallest structure in the nation’s capital. It was last surveyed in 2009, and data shows that it has sunk nearly 2 inches into the ground since its completion in 1884.

“It will still take some time to apply the proper corrections for atmospheric conditions … to this data and perform a full analysis once the entire survey is completed — hopefully by the end of next week,” continued the chief surveyor.

What do you think? Do you think the Washington Monument will fall at some point in your lifetime?