Four Eastern alumni were on the East Coast when the earthquake started at 1:51 EST, each experiencing their first major seismic event.

Eric Hiltner, a 2010 Eastern graduate, was in Richmond, Va., approximately 38 miles from the epicenter, when the earthquake happened.

Hiltner said he was working at Lumber Liquidators when the building started shaking violently. He said he and his coworkers thought it was a passing truck.

“We realized it wasn’t because it was taking longer than a truck would pass,” Hiltner said.

Hiltner said a couple of old customers were in the store when he yelled, “Earthquake!”

“I think the old lady almost died of fright,” Hiltner said.

Everyone in the store was OK, he said.

Another alumna was in her third-floor office in Takoma Park, Md. when she felt the shaking. She too thought it was a truck.

“I thought a big truck hit the building,” said Dru Sefton, a 1982 Eastern graduate. “Then the shaking went on.”

Sefton said her building did not seem to be shaking, rather she said it felt like it was “twisting or rolling.”

Sefton’s husband, Andy Savoie, a 1983 Eastern graduate, was walking outside in Washington, D.C. and did not feel any tremors from the earthquake, she said.

Jean Wright Medina, a 1988 Eastern graduate, felt the earthquake immediately while working in Washington, D.C., a few blocks from the White House.

Similar to the other alumni, Medina didn’t think the shaking was because of an earthquake.

“We had window cleaners on our building so when I felt it I thought the scaffolding fell off the building.”

Medina felt the shaking and left her desk to look out the window. Then the window started to rattle and she realized it wasn’t the scaffolding.

“You could feel the building moving,” Medina said.

Medina said she and her Air Transport Association coworkers took cover while the shaking continued. When it stopped, everyone immediately evacuated the building.

She said everyone from the buildings around them was doing the same thing. Once she got outside, she texted her family in Chicago.

“The cell phone service was jammed so I was worried my family would see something on the news and worry when they couldn’t get a hold of me,” Medina said.

Alycia Rockey, a 2010 Eastern graduate, was in Brooklyn, N.Y. when she felt the shaking. She said everything around her was wobbling.

Rockey said the experience made her realize the world is unpredictable.

“You never know what’s going to happen next in this world,” Rockey said.

Elizbeth Edwards also contributed to this article.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected]