New Jersey was hit by an earthquake Friday, which was felt in parts of New York.
A 2.4-magnitude earthquake was detected by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Bergen County. However, residents in the Bronx and Yonkers felt the shaking in their area.
The earthquake hit at 1:02pm ET near Paramus where residents reported the tremors sounding ‘like a car hit the house.’
Others said they heard a ‘hum for about three to five seconds’ or felt it while sitting in the vehicle.
USGS reported that the earthquake was felt in parts of Rockland and Westchester.
The earthquake had a depth of just under five miles. Shallow earthquakes, being closer to the surface, are generally more destructive compared to deeper ones.
The Office of Emergency Management in Bergen County stated, ‘No significant damage reports have been received so far. We will continue to monitor the situation and issue additional alerts if necessary.’
Paramus sits on the Ramapo Fault line, the largest system of cracks in the Northeast, which released a 4.8-magnitude on April 5, 2024 that was felt by millions in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Delaware.
New Jersey was hit by an earthquake Friday that was felt in parts of New York City
Reports of the earthquake flooded USGS but showed that hundreds of people only felt light shaking.
Residents posted reactions to Friday’s earthquake on Reddit, with reports coming surfacing in Mildford, Bayonne and Fair Lawn.
‘Saddle River Road… my whole building shook,’ a Redditor shared.
The Ramapo Fault formed 400 million years ago – much older than California’s 28-million-year-old San Andreas.
A fault line is a place where there is a long break in the rock that forms the surface of the earth and where earthquakes are more likely to happen.
The system spans from upstate New York, through New Jersey and down into Pennsylvania – and experts have long believed it has the potential to produce a major seismic event.
Kenneth Miller, a professor at Rutgers University, told DailyMail.com in a previous interview that the Ramapo Fault was created when continents first started pushing together hundreds of millions of years ago.
‘[The system] reactivated 200 million years ago, causing about four miles of movement,’ he explained.
The earthquake hit at 1:02pm ET near Paramus where residents reported the tremors sounding ‘like a car hit the house.’
‘It then stopped around 198 million years ago when the Atlantic Ocean formed.
The fault link continued with activity but has since slowed down to minor movements.
‘A 6- to 7-magnitude earthquake is possible [for New Jersey], but seems very unlikely, said Miller, while explaining the Ramapo Fault line does not trigger anything above a magnitude 3 on average.
The fault line released a major quake in April, which caused a 4.0-magnitude aftershock the next day.
Aftershocks are small tremors that occur in the days, months or years near the site of an initial earthquake. This one had a magnitude of 4.0 – considered to on the lower end of the minor-to-moderate range, with 4.9 being the highest.
Some speculated that Friday’s earthquake may have also been an aftershock from last year’s seismic event.
‘Aftershocks can continue over a period of weeks, months, or years,’ USGS said.
New Jersey has experienced more than 200 tremors since the April earthquake, caused by rocks re-adjusting themselves following the major one.
The last largest to hit New Jersey was a 5.3-magnitude in 1738.
