An earthquake centered near New York City rattles, and unnerves, much of the Northeast
NEW YORK (AP) — An earthquake shook the densely populated New York City metropolitan area Friday morning, with residents across the Northeast reporting rumbling in a region unaccustomed to it.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a quake at 10:23 a.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, or about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia. The agency’s figures indicated that the quake might have been felt by more than 42 million people.
People from Baltimore to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border reported feeling the ground shake. While there were no immediate reports of serious damage, officials were checking bridges and other major infrastructure, Amtrak slowed trains throughout the busy Northeast Corridor, and a Philadelphia-area commuter rail line suspended service out of what it said was “an abundance of caution.”
His colleague Finn Dusenbery worried the ceiling or even the building would collapse.
Here’s what to know:
- Epicenter in New Jersey: The USGS reported a quake at 10:23 a.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8.
- No damage or injuries: Authorities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania said so far they had not received reports of life-threatening situations or damage to buildings.
- Residents react: Earthquakes are less common on the East Coast, but they can still pack a punch — and leave people a “little freaked out,” as one New Yorker described.
“I wanted to get out of the building when I felt that,” Dusenbery said.
In midtown Manhattan, traffic grew louder as motorists blared their horns on shuddering streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a boom and felt their building shaking. Cellphone circuits were overloaded for a time as people tried to reach loved ones and figure out what was going on.
“Is it an earthquake?” Soeripto wondered aloud, then asked if it was all right to go ahead. She did, but soon diplomats’ phones blared with earthquake alerts.
Kurtz assumed at first it was a big truck going by. The video captured her looking around, perplexed. Chiki, however, “was completely unbothered.”
Earthquakes are less common on the eastern than western edges of the U.S. because the East Coast does not lie on a boundary of tectonic plates. The biggest Eastern quakes usually occur along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends through Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean.
Quakes on the East Coast can still pack a punch, as its rocks are better than their western counterparts at spreading earthquake energy across far distances.
“If we had the same magnitude quake in California, it probably wouldn’t be felt nearly as far away,” said USGS geophysicist Paul Caruso.
A 4.8-magnitude quake isn’t large enough to cause damage, except for some minor effects near the epicenter, the agency posted on X.
Registering magnitude 5.8, it was the strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast since World War II.
On Friday, the White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the earthquake and was “in touch with federal, state, and local officials as we learn more.”
As of noon, New York City had no indications of “major life safety or infrastructure issues from the earthquake,” Mayor Eric Adams said on X, adding that the city was inspecting critical areas.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on X that the quake was felt throughout the state, but officials had no reports of any life-threatening problems.
“I was just like, ‘Where is that vibration coming from?’” Byron recalled. He was especially puzzled since there were no subways running nearby.
But he didn’t realize there had been an earthquake until he got the alert on his cellphone.
