Quake Expert Says Dual Quakes in Colorado and East Coast Unrelated

GOLDEN, Colo.-- The U.S. Geological Survey says the Virginia earthquake struck an area that historically is not seismically active -- and that there's no connection with another rare quake that struck Colorado.

USGS geophysicist Daniel McNamara in Golden, Colo., said Tuesday's magnitude-5.9 quake that rattled much of the East Coast cannot be traced to a specific fault.

McNamara said the same applies to a magnitude-5.3 quake that struck southern Colorado late Monday. That area, too, has seen little seismic activity on such a large scale.

McNamara stressed there is no connection between the two quakes.