Achi news desk-
NEW YORK –
An earthquake shook the populous metropolitan area of ​​New York City on Friday morning, the US Geological Survey said, with residents reporting rumblings across the Northeast.
The agency reported an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.7, centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, or about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia.
The New York Fire Department said there were no initial reports of damage. New York Mayor Eric Adams had been briefed on the earthquake, said his spokesman Fabien Levy, adding, “Although we have no reports of major impacts at this time, we are still assessing the impact. “
In midtown Manhattan, the usual cacophony of traffic grew louder as motorists honked their horns on momentarily quivering streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a boom and their building shook. In an apartment house in Manhattan’s East Village, a more earthquake-prone California resident calmed nervous neighbors.
People in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connecticut and other areas of the East Coast unfamiliar with earthquakes also reported feeling the tremors.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on X that the earthquake was felt throughout the state. “My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will be updating the public throughout the day,” Hochul said.
The shaking stirred memories of the August 23, 2011 earthquake that shook tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada. Registering a magnitude of 5.8, it was the strongest earthquake to hit the East Coast since World War II. The epicenter was in Virginia.
That earthquake left cracks in the Washington Monument, triggered the evacuation of the White House and Capitol and shook New York three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Associated Press journalists across the country contributed to this report.
