New York is rattled by 4.8 earthquake
AN earthquake shook the densely populated New York City metropolitan area yesterday morning, the US Geological Survey said.
Residents across the northeast reported rumbling in a region where people are unaccustomed to such seismic activity.
The agency reported a quake at 10.23am with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, or about 45 miles west of New York City.
USGS figures indicated it might have been felt by more than 42 million people.
In a social media post more than 30 minutes after the quake, New York
City’s emergency notification system said it had no reports of damage or injuries in the city.
New Jersey
Transit posted on X that its train system was subject to delays caused by bridge inspections.
The Philadelphia area’s PATCO rail line suspended service out of what it said was “an abundance of caution”.
In midtown Manhattan, the usual cacophony of traffic grew louder as motorists blared their horns on momentarily shuddering streets.
Some Brooklyn residents heard a booming sound and their building shaking.
In an apartment house in Manhattan’s East Village, a resident from more earthquake-prone California calmed nervous neighbours.
People in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connecticut and other areas of the Northeast reported shaking.
Tremors lasting for several seconds were felt more than 200 miles away near the Massachusetts-new Hampshire border.
In a statement, the White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the earthquake and was “in touch with federal, state and local officials as we learn more”.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul posted on X that the quake was felt throughout the state. She wrote: “My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred and we will update the public throughout the day.” Philadelphia police asked people not to call 911 about seismic activity unless they were reporting an emergency.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said state officials were monitoring the situation. A spokesperson for Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont was unaware of any reports of damage in that state.
The shaking stirred memories of the earthquake on August 23, 2011 which jolted tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada.
Registering magnitude 5.8, it was the strongest quake to hit the East Coast since the Second World War. The epicentre was in Virginia.
That earthquake left cracks in the Washington Monument, and sparked the evacuation of the White House and Capitol.
It also rattled New Yorkers three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.