MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“Washington (CNN) — Small pools of standing water were found in the Washington Monument during inspections following Hurricane Irene, the National Park Service told CNN Wednesday, indicating undiscovered cracks.

According to spokeswoman Carol Johnson, when crews entered the monument Monday following the weekend’s hurricane, water was pooled in the observatory near the top and in the monument’s interior stairwell. Engineers had inspected the monument and tried to plug the holes before the hurricane, but Johnson said the amount of water found means that some holes were missed.

‘There were some leaks that we were not able to identify or able to plug,’ Johnson said. ‘What happened was a lot of mortar popped out, so much so that you can see sunlight above 450 feet in the monument.’

The Washington Monument, built between 1848 and 1884, is 555 feet, five and one-eighth inches tall. Its walls are 15 feet thick at the base and 18 inches at the top, and are composed primarily of white marble blocks, according to the National Park Service.” Read more.

Strong Quake Aftershock Shakes Virginia – “Central Virginia has been shaken by another aftershock from last week’s earthquake that rattled the East Coast. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 3.4 magnitude aftershock at 5:09 a.m. Thursday. The epicenter was 4 miles south-southeast of Mineral. Mineral was the epicenter of last Tuesday’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake. More than 20 aftershocks ranging from 4.5 to 1.8 have followed the earthquake.” Read more.