Magnitude 3.0 earthquake in New Jersey shakes New York metro area
An earthquake shook things up in the New York metro area Saturday night.
A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.0 hit Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, at 10:18 p.m., according to the United States Geological Survey, or USGS.
There have not been reports of injuries or of structural damage, said Jonathan Tytell, a geophysicist at the USGS.
The earthquake has a preliminary depth of 10 kilometers, which is shallow relative to others that have happened on Earth, he said No major impacts were reported shortly after the quake, NYC Emergency Management said. The agency reported that tremors may have been felt in parts of the city.
New Yorkers should be prepared for aftershocks that could occur minutes, hours or even days after the initial event, a post on the agency’s X account said. The post also recommended that those who felt shaking check for hazards like items that moved, falling debris or cracks.
The Empire State building made sure to let New Yorkers know it survived the shake, posting on X: “I AM FINE.”
Tytell said the earthquake was “substantially less life threatening” than the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Russia that prompted tsunami warnings in the U.S.
Those in the area of Saturday’s quake can expect 1.0 magnitude aftershocks, Tytell said, but whether this was a precursor to something larger is unlikely. Magnitude 3.0 earthquake in New Jersey shakes New York metro area
He also said he did not think this was an aftershock to the 4.8-magnitude earthquake in the area that took place in April 2024.
A 3.0-magnitude earthquake struck late Saturday in northern New Jersey, jolting parts of the state and New York City, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake hit at 10:18 p.m. and its epicenter was at Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., near Teterboro Airport, according to the Geological Survey. People reported feeling tremors in parts of New York City, including Brooklyn, as well as Westchester County and as far as Connecticut.
No damage or injuries were reported in New York, the city’s emergency management department said. “If you felt shaking, check for hazards such as shifted items, falling debris, or cracks,” it advised.
There were also no reports of major impacts in Bergen county, which includes Hasbrouck Heights, the local sheriff’s office said on social media.
People across northern New Jersey reported feeling a short, intense shake. Neighborhood chats and social media quickly lit up with some worried that a gas line had exploded or a large tree had fallen.
On 129th Street in Harlem, Bradford Billingsley said he was watching television with friends when his coffee table rattled. “We both felt a sudden jolt and looked at each other and said, ‘was that an earthquake?’” he said.
While the New York and New Jersey region experiences numerous tiny earthquakes every year, they usually go unnoticed, according to geologists. Earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude are not unusual for the area and rarely cause significant damage, experts say.
The last significant earthquake in the region was in April last year, when a 4.8-magnitude quake shook buildings in New York City and drove startled residents into the streets. Its tremors were felt from Philadelphia to Boston.
An earthquake in Bergen County shook parts of New Jersey and New York on Saturday night. This is the second earthquake in New Jersey in less than two weeks.
At 10:18 p.m., an earthquake registering 3.0 on the Richter Scale was recorded in Hasbrouck Heights.
The Richter Scale ranges from 1-9, with 1 being the weakest, and 9 being the strongest.
New Jersey earthquake felt in New York City, Lower Hudson Valley
Though relatively weak, the quake was felt as far away as 65 miles, reaching into western Connecticut and the Lower Hudson Valley. Magnitude 3.0 earthquake Numerous residents in and around New York City have reported that they felt the rumbling as well.
No damage has been reported so far, though aftershocks may occur throughout the next few days.
The initial quake during that round registered at only a 1.6 in magnitude on July 21. However, five aftershocks followed into the day and night of July 22, with the fourth aftershock registering higher than the initial shock, coming in at 2.0 in magnitude. Little to no damage was reported from that round.
Although New Jersey is not known to be a hotbed of seismic activity, such as places like California or Japan, it does have a rather active fault line that traverses the north central part of the state. This fault line, known as the Ramapo Fault line, is responsible for producing several quakes a year. These quakes are usually small, and are not felt far from outside their epicenters in northern New Jersey.
