A 4.7-magnitude earthquake shook the densely populated New York City metropolitan area Friday morning, the US Geological Survey said, with residents reporting they felt rumbling across the Northeast.
The agency reported a quake centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, or about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia.
The Fire Department of New York said there were no initial reports of damage. New York Mayor Eric Adams had been briefed on the quake, his spokesperson Fabien Levy said, adding, “While we do not have any reports of major impacts at this time, we’re still assessing the impact.”
In midtown Manhattan, the usual cacophony of traffic grew louder as motorists blared their horns on momentarily shuddering streets, The Associated Press reported. Some Brooklyn residents heard a booming sound and their building shaking.
People in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connecticut and other areas of the East Coast unaccustomed to earthquakes also reported feeling the ground shake.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre initially measured the quake at 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on X that the quake was felt throughout the state. “My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” Hochul said.
According to Reuters, 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 said.
