Small Earthquake Rattles Northern New Jersey

[elleng]

Source: Reuters/NYTimes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small earthquake rattled northern New Jersey on Monday night but no injuries or damages were reported, authorities said.

The magnitude-3 quake struck at 10:34 p.m. (0334 GMT) two miles southeast of Victory Gardens, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were no reports of injuries or damages in the Morris County area 35 miles from New York City, according to Dover, New Jersey, police officer Walter Michalski.

But authorities and news outlets received numerous calls from people who felt the temblor and thought it was an explosion.

Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the USGS National Earthquake Center in Colorado, said such a small quake was not unusual and would generally not cause damage or injury.

"This size quake is in some cases not even felt at all, but this time of night ... it's much more likely for people to feel it," he said in a telephone interview.'


Read more: http://nytimes.com/reuters/2009/02/03/news/news-us-quake-newjersey.html

[AsahinaKimi]

1. magnatude 3 ?

That's an an average in California, nearly each day..

Welcome to our world^^

http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

[Ian David]

2. My High School graduation was the morning of the day the Hercules Powder Plant exploded.

I wonder how many people felt the quake and thought, "Oh, no. Not again."

[LostinVA]

3. We felt it -- we both looked at each other and I said,"What the hell was that!"

It reminded me of when I lived in Fayetteville, NC, and would feel the bombs over at Ft. Bragg.

[rug]

4. So does the traffic.

[LibertyLover]

5. I used to live in northern New Jersey - Bergen County

In the mid 1980s there were a series of small earthquakes on the Ramapo fault - the same one that runs right under Indian Point nuclear power plant. The first one that I remember feeling was about 6:30 am in the morning. My dog was sleeping on my bed and awakened. That awakened me. Then the bed started shaking. I knew immediately that it was earthquake because of the motion - it was similar to that I'd felt during an earthquake when I was in college. I turned on the television for news and they reported it shortly thereafter. It had been a 3 also. I suspect this one may have occurred along the Ramapo fault system as well.