Washington-area federal agencies granted early dismissal

The Office of Personnel Management instructed federal agencies in the Washington area to allow employees to leave work early on Tuesday because of a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the region earlier Tuesday.

OPM will update the government's operating status on its website by 4 a.m. Wednesday morning.

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Washington area on Tuesday afternoon, sending government and office workers out into the street. The earthquake struck Virginia, about 80 miles southwest of Washington, between Fredericksburg and Charlottesville.

Below is a list of agencies, their evacuation procedures during the event, and current operating status. We will update this list as we receive more information.

• Broadcasting Board of Governors: Evacuated due to structural damage.
• Education Department: Employees in the department's Union Center Plaza building were sent home due to structural damage at the adjacent CNN tower. The General Services Administration cleared the department's Potomac Center Plaza building for re-entry.
• Environmental Protection Agency: Evacuated briefly
• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency: Evacuated
• Defense Department: Pentagon was partially evacuated briefly.
• Defense Information Systems Agency: Employees will work normal duty hours.
• Food and Nutrition Service (part of the Agriculture Department): National office closed for inspection; regional offices are still open.
• Homeland Security Department: Did not officially evacuate, though employees left the building. National Operations Center remained up and running during the earthquake.
• U.S. Postal Service: Evacuated and agency closed. No word on impact on mail delivery or other operations outside Washington.
• National Institutes of Health: Evacuated.
• National Park Service: Employees sent home; memorials and monuments around the National Mall closed.
• Smithsonian: Evacuated.
• State: Not evacuated.