The 2003 Alabama earthquake took place on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 at 3:59 A.M. Central Daylight Time (local time when the event occurred) eight miles (13 km) east-northeast of Fort Payne, Alabama. The number of people who felt this quake was exceptionally high as the earthquake could be felt in 11 states across the East Coast and as far north as southern Indiana. The earthquake was strongly felt throughout metropolitan Atlanta. The Georgia Building Authority was called out to inspect the historic Georgia State Capitol in downtown Atlanta and other state-owned buildings, but found no problems. However, this is not out of the ordinary as earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains can be felt several times the area felt on West Coast earthquakes. The earthquake was given a magnitude 4.6 on the moment magnitude scale by the USGS (other sources reported as high a magnitude as 4.9) and reports of the duration of the shaking range from 10 seconds to as long as 45 seconds.