A seismic shake rattled through the densely populated metropolitan area of New York City Friday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey, with residents reporting tremors across the northeastern region.
The agency reported an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.7, centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, approximately 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia. No initial damages have been reported by the New York Fire Department. New York Mayor Eric Adams was briefed on the quake, according to his spokesperson Fabien Levy, who added, “While we have no reports of significant impacts at this time, we are still assessing the situation.”
In the heart of Manhattan, the usual bustle of traffic heightened as drivers honked their horns on momentarily trembling streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a rumble and felt their buildings shake. In an apartment complex in Manhattan’s East Village, a California resident, a region more prone to earthquakes, reassured their nervous neighbors.
Residents of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and other areas along the East Coast, less accustomed to seismic activity, also reported feeling the ground shake. New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated that the earthquake was felt throughout the state and assured that her team is assessing the impacts and any potential damage, promising to keep the public informed throughout the day.
The tremor brought back memories of the August 23, 2011 earthquake, which affected tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada. With a magnitude of 5.8, it was the strongest earthquake to shake the East Coast since World War II, with its epicenter in Virginia. This event caused cracks in the Washington Monument, the evacuation of the White House and the Capitol, and caused alarm among New Yorkers three weeks before the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Published by , news and The Usa Herald information agency.
