The most powerful earthquake to strike the New York area in 140 years shook northern New Jersey on a Friday morning, causing office buildings in Manhattan to tremble and disrupting travel.
According to the US Geological Survey, the initial 4.8-magnitude quake was the strongest in the New York area since 1884.
It originated near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and was felt along the Acela rail corridor from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C.
An aftershock was reported around 6 p.m. local time, with early indications suggesting a 4.0-magnitude quake southwest of Gladstone, New Jersey, according to the USGS.
The earthquake led to travel delays throughout the New York area, with Newark’s Liberty International Airport resuming operations around midday after an earlier ground stop.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, speaking on ABC News Live, said, “So far so good, we have limited calls or reports of damage,” hours before the dusk-time aftershock.
President Joe Biden, who spoke with Murphy after the initial earthquake, reassured reporters that “things are alright.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams stated that officials were checking for any damages, though preliminary reports did not show any major safety or infrastructure issues.
John Bellini, a geophysicist with the USGS, noted that older homes with brick faces and chimneys were the most vulnerable structures.
Orange & Rockland Utilities, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc., responded to two leaks reported earlier in the day.
The first was a gas leak at a private home in New York’s Rockland County, which was resolved with no injuries.
The second leak, reported in New City around noon, prompted utility workers to quickly resolve the issue.
Major earthquakes are rare in the New York area, though a minor temblor occurred in January. Unlike earthquakes out west, quakes on the East Coast are felt over a wider area due to the age of the rocks, which are more continuous.
Nancy Rochelle, a resident of Lebanon, New Jersey, described her experience, saying, “As I was closing the door to the house, I heard a loud crash and then everything started shaking. I thought that the garage door was coming off of the tracks and that it was crashing.
But then I realized the whole house was shaking and things were falling off of the shelf in the kitchen.”
More than 100 earthquakes have been recorded in that part of New Jersey, but most people don’t notice quakes until they reach magnitude 2 or higher, according to Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the USGS.
Despite the quake, diners at the Regency Bar & Grill in midtown Manhattan, known as the home of the “power breakfast,” remained unfazed.
Trish Hegeman, executive director of Mane Stream, a nonprofit that provides horseback riding for children and adults with disabilities, said the quake felt somewhat familiar to her as she used to live in California.
“It looks like we were right on top of it,” said Hegeman.
“We had one picture that was propped up against the wall and it fell over.” Her horses seemed fine, though one whinnied during the tremor.