WASHINGTON - The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Tuesday that it is continuing to closely monitor Hurricane Irene and the earthquake jolting the US east coast on Tuesday afternoon.

FEMA said it is coordinating closely with all of its state and territorial partners in the Caribbean and along the east coast that have already or could possibly experience impacts from this storm, and remains in close contact with the federal, state and local partners to track the impacts of the quake.

US vacationing President Barack Obama was briefed about the earthquake and status of critical infrastructure. The president was told that there are no initial reports of major infrastructure damage, including at airports and nuclear facilities and that there were currently no requests for assistance, FEMA said in a statement.

As part of FEMA's ongoing coordination for Irene that strengthened to a hurricane over Puerto Rico on Monday, its leadership is conducting daily calls with its regional offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and its Caribbean Area Office in Puerto Rico, the governors of the states and territories that already have or could be impacted, and its congressional and inter-governmental stakeholders, noted the agency.

Obama Monday signed an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, making federal funding available to supplement commonwealth and local response efforts in the area.

According to the US National Weather Service, Hurricane Irene is expected to strengthen and could impact the east coast later this week.

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck US east coast on Tuesday afternoon and was felt in Washington D.C., New York City and even in Toronto, Canada.