NEW YORK.- A 4.8° magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale shook the New York area this morningaccording to preliminary reports from the United States Geological Survey (USGS, for its acronym in English). The epicenter of the movement, which raised eyebrows on the east coastwas recorded in the town of Lebanon, in the state of New Jersey, about 80 kilometers from Manhattan.
Several airports on the East Coast of the United States issued ground controls to stop air traffic immediately afterward. The earthquake shook buildings in Manhattan and throughout New Yorkwhich caused thousands of residents to run into the streets surprised by what had happenedin an area where tremors are not common.
The earthquake occurred “at 10:23 (local time) 7 kilometers northeast of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,” the border state of New York, on the other side of the Hudson River. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 5 kilometersaccording to the USGS.
The New York Police Department said it had no immediate reports of damage, but sirens could be heard throughout the city. The tremor was reportedly felt in cities from Philadelphia to Boston.
Several minutes after the earthquake, alerts sounded on cell phones that advised residents who were probably not used to these types of emergencies to stay home.
“My team is evaluating the impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
Aftershocks are common after an earthquake, and New York City officials warned residents to be prepared for them. Most aftershocks are smaller than the original earthquake, but can still be damaging, according to the USGS.
In midtown Manhattan, the usual sound of traffic grew louder as motorists honked their horns on shaking streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a thunderous sound and their building shook. In an apartment building in Manhattan’s East Village, a California resident, more prone to earthquakes, calmed nervous neighbors, according to the AP agency.
At the United Nations headquarters, The cameras filming the Security Council meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza began to shake. The representative of the NGO Save the Children, Janti Soeripto, interrupted a speech in which she was talking about famine and deaths. “Is it an earthquake?” he asked..
People in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connecticut and other areas on the East Coast unaccustomed to earthquakes also reported feeling the ground shake.
Arrivals at Newark Liberty International Airport, La Guardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Teterboro Airport are on hold due to the earthquake, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported. In those terminals, delays could last up to 45 minutes. Arriving flights are also being delayed, up to 30 minutes, at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
He New York Mayor Eric Adams, said he was informed about the tremor and that no major damage had been reported in the city. “While we have no reports of significant effects at this time, we continue to evaluate the impact,” said his spokesperson, Fabien Levy.
Nathaniel Styer, a spokesman for New York City schools, said in a statement that “there is no indication that our buildings were compromised.” Still, facility staff are conducting inspections “quickly and thoroughly,” he added.
The Police Department’s traffic chief said in X that no structural damage had been reported within the subway system. He added that there were no interruptions in service as a result of the earthquake.
Madison Darnell, who was at a women’s clothing store in Times Square, said she felt the shaking for about 30 seconds. “It felt like a subway was passing by.”said.
“Oh Lord! I jumped up and started looking out the windows. “That was horrible!” said Traci Slade, a 50-year-old mother of two and software insurance employee who felt the earthquake at her home in Clifton, New Jersey.
A resident of Bridgewater, New Jersey, said he heard a loud bang, “like the loudest thunder you have ever heard”followed by 15 seconds of movement, the New York Post reported.
María Pareja, 44, has worked at a laundry in Marble Hill, in the Bronx, for seven years. While she was receiving clients, she felt the earthquake. “Everything started to shake. I said, ‘What is that?!'”, he pointed. He added that he had experienced an earthquake before, but it had not been as strong as the one this morning. “This was a real shock.”, he related. “It happened very quickly, but it was very strong.”
At a cafe in Lower Manhattan, several customers talked about the earthquake, which shook the counter and the plates and cutlery. “I noticed a door shaking in its frame,” said an employee, India Hays. “I thought for sure it wasn’t possible that there was an earthquake here,” she added.
Background
While most earthquakes in the North American Northeast go unnoticed, New Yorkers have felt several over the years.
The tremor evoked memories of the earthquake in August 23, 2011 that shook tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada. With a magnitude of 5.8°, it was the strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast since World War II. The epicenter was in Virginia.
That earthquake left cracks in the Washington Monument, prompted the evacuation of the White House and Capitol and shook New Yorkers three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Additionally, a 2.2° magnitude earthquake struck parts of New York and New Jersey in May of last year, and a 3.6° magnitude earthquake struck Adams Center, New York, the month before.
The largest earthquakes recorded in New York City occurred in 1884, Pratt said, when a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck off Coney Island.
New York City added earthquake safety provisions added to its building code in 1995but most of the city’s approximately one million buildings were built before that date. Depending on the city, many are considered “vulnerable” to earthquakes.
AP Agency and The New York Times