Residents in New Jersey and New York were rattled Friday morning by a Magnitude 4.8 earthquake.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake struck at 10:23 a.m., and its epicenter was about 3.1 miles northeast of Lebanon, N.J., at a depth of just over half a mile.
Lebanon is about 48 miles west of New York City, where residents and workers were surprised when high rises began shaking.
While earthquakes are not nearly as common in the northeastern U.S. as they are on the West Coast, the northern Appalachian Mountains and Mid-Atlantic region are home to many known faults. Perhaps the best known is the Ramapo Fault Zone, a system of faults that spans the northern Appalachians in parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
While the northeast typically only sees smaller earthquakes, they can be felt far from their epicenters.
According to a map of community reports on the USGS website, people reported feeling Friday’s quake as far as northern Delaware; Allentown, Penn.; Saugerties, N.Y.; and New Haven, Conn.
Story via TMX