NEW YORK – A 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck the New York City region on April 5, shaking buildings and surprising residents in an area that rarely experiences notable seismic activity.
The quake’s epicentre was in Lebanon, New Jersey, about 80km west of Manhattan, at a depth of 4.7km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. It struck shortly after 10.20am local time (10.20pm in Singapore).
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre initially measured the quake at 5.5-magnitude on the Richter scale.
The earthquake was felt across the region, including in New York City, New Jersey, northern Pennsylvania and western Connecticut, according to Reuters journalists and social media.
No major damage was reported, but New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned of the possibility of aftershocks at a news conference. Engineering teams are inspecting roads and bridges.
“This is one of the largest earthquakes on the East Coast in the last century,” she said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference that no injuries had been reported but urged city residents to take cover under furniture, in a doorway or next to an interior wall if they feel any aftershocks.
“New Yorkers should go about their normal day,” he said.
Ms Charita Walcott, a 38-year-old resident in the Bronx borough of New York, said the quake felt “like a violent rumble that lasted about 30 seconds or so”.
“It was kind of like being in a drum circle, that vibration,” she added.
The New York Police Department said it had no immediate reports of damage, but sirens could be heard all over the city.
In Brooklyn, buildings shook, rattling cupboard doors and fixtures, a correspondent with Agence France-Presse reported.
At the United Nations, which has its headquarters in New York, a Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza was temporarily paused after the tremor.
“Is that an earthquake?” said Save the Children representative Janti Soeripto, who was speaking at the time.
“You’re making the ground shake,” Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour quipped.
The iconic Empire State Building reported on its X account: “I AM FINE.”
Ms Madison Darnell, a buyer at De Janeiro, a women’s clothing boutique in Times Square, said she felt shaking in her store for about 30 seconds.
“It just felt like a subway was going through,” she noted.
The US Federal Aviation Administration paused flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, La Guardia Airport, John F. Kennedy Airport and Teterboro Airport as of 11am.
A beeping emergency alert was sent to New Yorkers’ phones at 11.02am alerting them to the earthquake and urging them to remain indoors and call 911 if injured. That was more than 35 minutes after the earthquake hit.
James Pittinger, mayor of Lebanon, New Jersey, near the quake’s epicenter, said there were no reports of injuries or significant damage but that people were unnerved.
“I was sitting in my home office when things started to fall off the walls and shelves,” Pittinger said. “It was a crazy experience.”
President Joe Biden spoke with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy about the earthquake, and the administration will provide assistance if needed, the White House said in a statement.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the state had not identified any life-threatening situations but was nonetheless reviewing all vulnerable infrastructure.
“This is one of the largest earthquakes on the East Coast to occur in the last century,” she said, adding that New York was taking the review “extremely seriously”.
A comparable earthquake struck the East Coast on Aug 23, 2011. That tremor – centred in Mineral, Virginia, north of the state capital of Richmond – was measured at 5.8-magnitude.
It caused US$200 million (S$270 million) to US$300 million in damages and affected landmarks like the National Cathedral and the Washington Monument.
Data from the USGS showed that this latest quake is the third-strongest within 400km of New York City since 1950. REUTERS, AFP
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2024-04-05 14:54:44Z
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