Starting the year off with a miles-wide earthquake, to the collapse of a decades-old bridge in Baltimore and rounding out the year with a decisive election season — plenty has transpired in the D.C. area this year.
Take a look back at some of the biggest, most important and impactful local news stories of 2024.
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JANUARY: Rare earthquake kicks 2024 off with a rocky start
The year kicked off with a 2.3 magnitude earthquake on Jan. 2, with more than 200 WTOP listeners and readers contacting the newsroom to report feeling a rumbling or hearing a loud noise.
Rebecca Kavage Adams, a lead geologist at the Maryland Geological Survey, told WTOP the epicenter of the earthquake was calculated to be about 2.2 miles west of Rockville and about 4 miles south of Gaithersburg.
While no injuries were reported, and while the magnitude of the earthquake was considered small, it startled some residents in the middle of the night.
“The whole house shook. My wife and I jumped out of bed all confused and scared not knowing what is going on,” one listener told WTOP. “Very scary. Windows shook,” they said, adding they felt shaking in Darnestown.
Since the 2000s, a dozen earthquakes have struck the area — including the infamous magnitude 5.8 earthquake centered near Mineral, Virginia, that grabbed the spotlight on Aug. 23, 2011, due to the damage it produced across the region.
Read more: Geologist explains the ‘very scary’ earthquake felt by Maryland, DC residents
FEBRUARY: Washington Wizards, Capitals to stay in DC
After months of back and forth, a deal that would’ve moved the Washington Wizards and Capitals to a new arena in Alexandria, Virginia, failed, with Virginia lawmakers saying Gov. Glenn Youngkin didn’t bring Democrats into negotiations soon enough.
Though the legislation to bring the D.C. teams across the river passed in its first state legislature, top Democrats in the Virginia Senate dealt a final blow by refusing to docket the bill for a hearing.
By March, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the teams’ owner Ted Leonsis announced the teams would stay in the District under a $515 million deal, keeping them in the city until 2050. The D.C. Council eventually unanimously voted to approve a bill that will aid the development and financing of upgrades to the arena and the surrounding neighborhood.
MARCH: 6 dead after cargo ship collapses Baltimore bridge
In the early hours on March 26, a container ship called the Dali that was headed through Baltimore to Sri Lanka crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland. The bridge collapsed, bringing six construction workers down with it.
Six men died in the collapse, including Alejandro Fernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore; Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk; 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval; Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie; José Mynor López, 37, of Baltimore.
The sole survivor, Julio Cervantes Suarez, lost his nephew and brother-in-law in the collapse. Cervantes Suarez, 37, said the men were sitting in their construction vehicles during a break when the bridge suddenly started crumbling beneath them.
After his truck collapsed into the Patapsco River below the bridge, he was able to manually roll down the window and climb out into the frigid water.
Read more: The latest on the Key Bridge collapse and recovery in Baltimore
APRIL: DC region witnesses once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse
Space lovers across North America excitedly tracked and made plans to watch the total solar eclipse that happened April 8.
While D.C. proper wasn’t in the eclipse’s path of totality, the new moon crossed the face of the sun for over 4 minutes. Hundreds gathered on the National Mall with their special glasses and telescopes to watch the eclipse.
“It’s just one of those really unique human experiences that brings everyone together,” said Sarah Hewes, who brought her two kids to the Mall to watch. “It’s a good reminder of what makes our spot in the universe beautiful and wonderful.”
The next total solar eclipse that can be seen in the U.S. occurs in August 2044, according to NASA.
Read more: DC-area residents take in rare sight of partial solar eclipse
MAY: DC college students set up camp in solidarity with Palestine
Throughout May, pro-Palestinian encampments and protests broke out across the country on college campuses. As final exams neared and the war in Gaza raged on, the protests on the D.C. campus of George Washington University lasted for two weeks.
Students were calling on the university to divest from any sponsors or donors that were pro-Israel and to show their support for a weapons ceasefire for the war in Gaza.
D.C. police eventually took down the encampment and arrested 33 protesters on May 8, which led to the GWU community calling for resignations, citing misinformation and student endangerment.
Read more: DC police clear out GWU pro-Palestinian encampment, 33 protesters arrested
JUNE: Record tornadoes touchdown in DC area
In early June, heavy rain and thundershowers barraged the D.C. area for days, leading to a record 13 tornadoes touching down across the region.
One tornado that touched down in Poolesville was so powerful that a shipping container weighing around 9,000 pounds was lifted off the ground slightly, and bounced twice as it moved 100 yards.
At one point, the National Weather Service issued 22 tornado warnings, which was the fourth most in one day since 1986, according to 7News First Alert Meteorologist Brian van de Graaff.
JULY: Pro-Palestinian protesters take to DC’s streets again
Thousands filled the streets of D.C. in July as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a fiery and scathing speech before Congress, where he pledged to achieve “total victory” against Hamas and called American opponents of the war in Gaza “idiots.”
Demonstrators in Downtown D.C. carried Palestinian flags and signs with messages such as “arrest Netanyahu” and “end all U.S. aid to Israel,” calling for an end to the war that has killed nearly 45,000 Palestinians so far.
Outside Union Station, on the federally protected Columbus Circle, protesters tore down and burned American flags and hoisted Palestinian ones in their place, and wrote graffiti messages on the statue in the center of the plaza. The protests shut down streets in the area and forced Union Station to close some of its entrances.
Some missed trains, unable to get into the station on time because of the protests.
AUGUST: The nation’s athletes head to the City of Love for the Olympic Games
Team USA emerged victorious from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with many of its athletes coming from the D.C. area.
Alexandria, Virginia, native Noah Lyles took home the crown title of “fastest man alive” after winning the gold in the 100-meter dash at the 2024 Paris Olympics in August. Lyles, who won by the skin of his teeth against Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, tallied 9.784 seconds.
His family gathered for a watch party at Pork Barrel BBQ, gushing over the three-time medalist as he crossed the finish line. Lyles himself made his way back to his alma mater, Alexandria City High School, where he was honored for his achievement by city officials and his former teacher and coaches.
Other area athletes who came out victorious include Bethesda, Maryland’s Katie Ledecky, who won her ninth gold and 14th medal and became the most decorated female swimmer in history, and Arlington, Virginia’s swimming phenom Torri Huske, who won five medals and brought home the most medals of any U.S. athlete.
Read more: A roundup of DC-area Olympians bringing medals home from Paris
SEPTEMBER: Emergency responders head to Florida as Hurricane Helene approaches
In the middle of hurricane season, Virginia and Maryland emergency responders were sent down to Florida to help in light of Hurricane Helene.
The FEMA-deployed search and rescue teams worked with local Floridian emergency officials to determine where they could best help, according to John Morrison, spokesman for Task Force 1, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.
“Whatever the local officials down there need, we can provide that,” Morrison added.
The hurricane, which made landfall in the northwestern Tampa region, also took the lives of three Virginians and inundated much of the southwest region of the state, leaving behind over $4 billion in damages, the Virginia Department of Transportation estimated.
While the members of Maryland Task Force 1 responded for Hurricane Helene returned home, other members of the 45-person team were deployed to assist after Hurricane Milton touched down in North Carolina.
Read more: Va. and Md. emergency responders heading to Florida where Hurricane Helene makes landfall
OCTOBER: Panda-monium ensues with arrival of new panda bears in DC
Two new giant pandas from China arrived at the Smithsonian National Zoo in October, nearly a year after the D.C. zoo’s exhibit was devastatingly vacated.
Bao Li and Qing Bao, both 3 years old, explored the zoo’s panda house, which was stocked with a bamboo feast, after a 19-hour journey from a research facility in southwest China, according to a news release from the National Zoo.
It had been 11 months since three of the cherished bears left the District, leaving D.C.-area panda lovers in a lurch as an agreement between China and the U.S. expired.
Read more: 2 giant pandas have arrived at DC’s National Zoo
NOVEMBER: One of a kind election season stresses American values
After an election year unlike any other, Donald Trump won the 2024 Presidential Election.
Vice President Kamala Harris spent Election Day at her alma mater, Howard University in D.C., and ultimately gave her concession speech there the following day. In front of a crowd of saddened supporters, Harris said, “Sometimes the fight takes a while, that doesn’t mean we won’t win.”
Trump, after running a campaign that centered Americans’ concerns with the state of the economy and immigration, said he has big plans to make the federal government smaller when he returns to the White House in January for his second term. Alongside a flipped GOP Congress, Trump has also filled key posts in his cabinet, prioritizing loyalty after he felt bruised by internal squabbling during his first term.
In the D.C. area, federal workers — which make up about 8% of all jobs in the metro region — face sweeping efforts by President-elect Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that plans to eliminate government agencies and their jobs.
DECEMBER: Shooter of health insurance CEO has family ties to Maryland
In the predawn hours of Dec. 4, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside of a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Thompson had been in the city to attend UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.
The suspect, who was allegedly using a veterinary pistol with a silencer, shot Thompson twice before fleeing on an electric bike through Central Park, where he discarded a backpack. The bag was later discovered with only two items inside: a Tommy Hilfiger jacket and some Monopoly money.
Bullets on the scene were found with “Delay, Deny, Depose,” etched into them, referencing a 2010 book of a similar name that discussed how insurance companies often exploit certain tactics, prioritizing profits over policyholders’ needs.
Police believed the suspect had fled the state on a Greyhound bus out of the city.
On Dec. 9, a person of interest was taken into custody after being spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Police later identified Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Maryland native, as the person of interest, and found clothing and a mask on him similar to those worn by the shooter, a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one used to check into an NYC hostel and writings linking him to the ambush.
Mangione was valedictorian at Baltimore’s prestigious all-boys Gilman School, and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. According to what appeared to be an archived version of his deleted Reddit account, Mangione posted about undergoing spinal surgery and struggling with chronic back pain.
He faces a charge of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder — one of which describes the killing as an act of terrorism — forgery and various weapons charges. He awaits extradition to New York where he will be sentenced.
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