New York buildings rattled by rare East Coast earthquake | BBC News

A rare earthquake has hit New Jersey, rattling buildings in New York City and its surrounding areas.

The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude-4.8 quake's epicentre was just north-east of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

It hit at about 10:20 local time (15:20 GMT). There are no reports of major damage.

A UN Security Council meeting on Gaza at its New York headquarters was temporarily paused due to the tremor.

For latest updates visit the BBC News website:

#NewYork #NewJersey #BBCNews

[MeetThaNewDealer]

Earthquakes do occur in New York and some of the Northeastern States. The last earthquake they had was in 2011.

[RobespierreThePoof]

I was driving in the suburbs when it happened. I've lived in earthquake prone areas before, but it's so uncommon here that i thought there must have been something wrong with the car engine!

The magnitude was not high enough to cause damage - other than things falling off shelves. But structural engineers will be busy checking buildings that weren't built for earthquake-readiness

[kimberlywills]

Our windows rattled, and walls & floor shook *very* noticeably. I'm in an 80yr old house in central NJ, ~30 miles from the epicenter. It was actually very scary, not knowing what it was. People who experience this commonly can say it's no big deal, and yes, we are glad there was no significant damage, but there is a mental aspect to it as well. My 5yr old granddaughter was crying and imagined people's houses in rubble, thanks to TV/movies/etc, and I took her out front to see that all the houses were ok... I myself experienced the 1989 CA quake but none since then; most in NJ/NY don't know what that feeling is. I wondered if our furnace was exploding, or what. "Can't be an earthquake, we don't get those"... after a moment of wondering what it was my instincts said, "whatever it is, I ain't sticking around for it" and I went outside and saw that other neighbors experienced it, too. So... maybe it was "small", but let's have compassion & respect for those who never felt this before and were genuinely frightened and are now questioning their previous reality of assuming the ground will always be beneath our feet. It's a mental shake-up as well. ❤

[margetoile]

We felt it in Connecticut! My design room was shaking, I thought a helicopter was flying over my roof!!!

[HeavenlyIntervention]

Just couple days ago Botswana threatened to invade Germany with 20, 000 elephants (no joke), and now an earthquake in NYC. We live in strange times..

[ismaelrdomingo]

Californians be like, we have 4.8s everyday

[faraboverubieskerry]

As an American I don't understand why the reporter kept downplaying this event? Earthquakes that can be felt are not a usual thing there. A 4.7-4.8 is very very rare. The quake in January that he mentioned was only a 1.7. The New York news channels are speaking to locals who say they've never felt an earthquake before. This magnitude is significant because just a bit higher of a magnitude can cause a lot of damage ... especially in places not designed to withstand big quakes. I grew up in California with frequent quakes and I experienced the big Northridge quake. NYC feeling a quake this big is really very strange

[lhoussainechahid]

I felt it here in New Jersey this morning at 10.am.

[chelseaabreu]

Sorry for playing loud music it probably hit everywhere 😂😂😂 but I hope everyone is ok

[oopik]

I remember the earthquake in Washington DC in 2011, almost a 6.0.

[CRTKaL]

Felt it in Croton-on-Hudson New York while I was working and my friend up in Poughkeepsie New York 34 miles north felt it as well

[wesleyrodgers]

British news is always much calmer. I remember their coverage of covid.

[tarjd]

Taiwan had a big one and then a couple of days later NY felt a tremour. Taiwan is on the Philippines tectonic plate/fault lane. That plate connects to the North american plate via the eurasian plate from the east (I'm surprised Japan felt nothing). The North american plate is several hundred miles from NYs east coast.

[sheilaetienne]

Upstate NY the capital ALBANY felt it too😮

[marlonsteneveldt]

We sending all our love from South Africa 🌍🇿🇦

[WilliamGibble]

The bed rock in This area is extremely deep, acts as a protector. So this is rare 😯

[ryanocarroll]

I wonder if folks in California are like “hey hey, you have storms and blizzard, earthquakes are our thing.”

[Maxrepfitgm]

NY real estate is collapsing...literally

[A_friendwithoutbenefits]

New Yorkers have been through way worse than this. A little earthquake is nothing for them.

[TerraRubicon]

Years ago (I lost count) scientists already warned there was a fault line near New York. Amazing they got it right while the area seems so tranquil.