Maine to Virginia along the East Coast was rocked by an earthquake of magnitude 4.8 that occurred on Friday in the Northeast.
A Friday morning earthquake that struck several cities in the northeastern United States rattled residents in those areas.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the earthquake’s epicenter was approximately 44 miles west of New York City, close to Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. This information was obtained at 10:23 a.m.
While shaking buildings rattled nerves across America’s largest city, interrupting work routines and even a U.N. Security Council meeting, life had more or less returned to normal by the afternoon.
How powerful was the Friday earthquake that struck New York City and the East Coast?
The earthquake, according to William Barnhart, a geophysicist and assistant coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards Program, had a magnitude of 4.8 and caused tremors that were felt for several seconds throughout Maine and as far south as Virginia Beach.
Tens of millions of people have felt it, and a remarkably wide area has felt it, according to Barnhart.
The strongest earthquake to hit New York City since 1884, according to the city government, occurred. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement released Friday that emergency personnel were remaining vigilant in light of concerns over possible aftershocks.
Although there are not any life-threatening circumstances that we are aware of, we are still requesting that our local emergency services and law enforcement agencies remain vigilant in case that happens, Hochul said.”
As soon as something like this happens, we are going to be going over every potentially vulnerable infrastructure site in the State of New York”
Did the East Coast and New York City earthquakes cause any damage?
No reports of “major impacts or injuries” had been received as of Friday morning, according to a statement from New York City Mayor Eric Adams. He also stated that the city would keep an eye out for any signs of damage to vital infrastructure.
“New Yorkers ought to carry on with their typical day,” Adams stated during a Friday morning press conference.
The New York Times reported that four three-story houses in Newark, New Jersey, were damaged. One resident described the loud tremble as something akin to a night train, as it “came straight through here.”
As a result of the earthquake, the Federal Aviation Administration reports that flights were delayed at airports in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.
However, the agency’s air traffic surveillance site indicates that delays caused by the earthquake were cleared by Friday afternoon.
