damage. in washington, d.c. and in new york, people poured out of buildings for an unscheduled mid-day break. and washington evacuated until it was clear to return to that building. all the details and bring you live reports throughout the hour here on hardball. also what would otherwise have been our lead story tonight took place on the other side of the world. in libya, where rebel troops overwhelmed pro-gadhafi forces and poured into this compound. the victorious rebels fired weapons in celebration and grab wlad they could, but colonel gadhafi s whereabouts remain unknown. we ll get to that story later on in the show. but we begin with today s earth east coast earthquake. let s bring in bob bazell, nbc s chief science and health correspondent. bob, how big a deal is this? we don t have these here on the east coast. we do, but not that often, chris. that s the point. a 5.8 earthquake is not a small earthquake. let s not forget the earthquake that struck haiti, por