Earthquake Rattles New York and New Jersey, but Does Little Damage

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. An earthquake struck the Northeast on Friday, rippling from Philadelphia to Boston. Three buildings in Newark were evacuated on Friday after sustaining serious damage during the earthquake.Credit…Stephanie Keith for The […]

T Kauer T Kauer
Apr 6, 2024 - 05:55
Earthquake Rattles New York and New Jersey, but Does Little Damage

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An earthquake struck the Northeast on Friday, rippling from Philadelphia to Boston.

Several people stand behind yellow police tape in front of a row of houses in Newark, N.J.
Three buildings in Newark were evacuated on Friday after sustaining serious damage during the earthquake.Credit…Stephanie Keith for The New York Times

Thomas Fuller

By Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller is based in the Bay Area and has written extensively about earthquakes.

At a general store in New Jersey, near the epicenter of the earthquake, the sound was so loud that the staff thought a truck had crashed into the building.

Five miles away, at some riding stables, the ground shook so forcefully that it sent three horses galloping around the ring.

Within hours, a custom T-shirt shop in Manhattan was already selling a souvenir: a shirt emblazoned with, “I Survived The N.Y.C. Earthquake, April 5th, 2024.”

For most of the millions of people who felt the magnitude-4.8 earthquake that sent tremors from Philadelphia to Boston on Friday morning, it was a harmless novelty in a part of the country unaccustomed to seismic shaking.

But the rattling shook buildings in New York City and drove startled residents into the streets.

Officials in New York said they had been in touch with counties as well as nuclear facilities across the state, with no reports of damage aside from a gas leak in Rockland County. “Fortunately here in the state of New York, we are masters of disasters,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “We know how to handle this.”

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