Tourists will not be allowed back to the Washington Monument until engineers have had the chance to accurately asses the structural damage caused by the earthquake which shook the east coast of America in August. Following the tremor, officials from the National Park Service said they had found a number of cracks in the obelisk.

The iconic monument was erected in 1884 to honour George Washington, the country’s first president. Standing at 555ft it is the tallest stone structure in the world. Although some cracking has been caused, the monument as a whole has been declared structurally sound.

National Mall superintendent, Bob Vogel, said he was extremely pleased to be able to announce that the monument would not be going anywhere and that it was generally still in remarkable good shape even though there has been some damage.

The National Park Service will now start working out where the repairs need to be done so that the public can once again view the impressive structure. Mr Vogel added that he hoped to be able to present a clearer idea of how long the repairs might take at some point next month.

The tremor, which was experienced on 24 August along the east coast, did not result in anyone being seriously injured or killed. There has however been footage released of tourists looking to find a safe place as the 5.8-magnitude quake caused the observation deck of the Washington Monument to shudder.