59 News found a woman who experienced it.

Karen Goins woke up about 8 a.m. Tuesday.

That is when she heard what she describes as a loud boom.

It was actually a minor earthquake, measuring 2.6 on the Richter scale.

Goins says her friend in nearby Dawson also heard it.

"I said, 'Sandy, did you hear any kind of loud boom this morning?' She said, 'Yeah, I did.' I said, 'Well, I did, too,'" said Goins.

For most people in the Smoot area, the earthquake was news to them.

In fact, the Greenbrier County 911 center received no reports of the quake or any damage.

"That's a good thing, I believe, in this instance. Widespread panic would have been, I believe, throughout the county, hearing about an earthquake," said Rusty Harvey, the county's 911 director.

And it's the first earthquake for West Virginia in 15 years. The last one was in the Charleston area.

For Karen Goins, she's just thankful she's safe and she didn't find any damage to her home.

And Harvey says there is no report yet of any damage.

In most of North America, east of the Rockies, the U.S. Geological Survey says earthquakes are infrequent, but can happen.

59 News spoke with Dave Russ. He's the Eastern United States geology executive for the U.S. Geological Survey.

He said he was not surprised by the earthquake. He said there is a low level of seismic activity in the Giles County, Virginia area, and over into bordering West Virginia counties.

The last earthquake in West Virginia was in the Charleston area in 1991. It was a 3.2 quake.

There was also one back in 1969 in Southern West Virginia. It was a 4.53 magnitude quake. It did minor damage in Giles County, Virginia, and broke windows in southern Mercer County.

The quake, which lasted for about 10 seconds, hit at about 8:30 a.m.

Kurt Tibbetts, the top elected official in the Caymans, said the government was developing a seismic monitoring program and had authorized the installation of four seismic sensors in the island chain.

The unknown magnitude tremour hit Kabul at 9:50am. Direction and magnitude of the earthquake could not be ascertained for non-availability of proper equipment in this war-battered country.

It is yet to be ascertained whether the tremour had caused any losses to life or property in Kabul or other areas.

People rushed out of their houses and offices as the earthquake hit the city. Its duration was about 30 seconds.

Winds topping 60 kilometres per hour fanned the flames, and officials said they didn't expect the strong wind and dry conditions to change anytime soon. The fire had burned more than 68 square kilometres by early Wednesday.

Dozens more people were taken from communities in Little Morongo Canyon and Burns Canyon after as many as 1,000 fled the flames Tuesday, authorities said.

The blaze burned through historic Pioneertown, destroying at least 30 homes and buildings there and in surrounding towns. It was unclear whether any historic structures were destroyed, said California Department of Forestry Capt. Marc DeRosier.

Pioneertown, about two hours east of Los Angeles, was host to Roy Rogers, Russ "Lucky" Hayden and other Hollywood cowboys who helped establish the desert hideaway in 1946. Movie crews nailed together a saloon, hauled up a railroad car and sank posts around the "OK Corral."

Gene Autry filmed Last of the Pony Riders and Indian Territory in Pioneertown. Hayden, of Hopalong Cassidy fame, used it for his Judge Roy Bean TV series, and Cisco Kid producers shot several movies and the TV series there.

By the 1960s, the town had become more of a residential community, although filmmakers began returning a few years ago. Car companies have filmed commercials in Pioneertown in recent years, and music videos have also been made there.

Fire investigators believe a lightning strike over the weekend sparked the fire, which slowly heated up before it "reared its ugly head" Tuesday afternoon, Lannen said. Earlier, they thought the fire was part of several lighting-sparked blazes that began Sunday that had been temporarily contained.

California Department of Forestry Capt. Debbie Chapman said about 200 homes were threatened. About 2,500 firefighters aided by 13 helicopters and eight air tankers were working the blaze.

Seven firefighters and two civilians suffered minor injuries, including burns and smoke inhalation.