Another earthquake struck New Jersey and more than 100 people have already reported to USGS they heard or felt the quake. According to USGS, at 11:22 pm last night from a shallow depth of only 4.8 km, a magnitude 1.8 event struck near Bedminster, New Jersey. While there were no reports of injuries or damages, nor were any expected with such a low-end earthquake, at least 149 people have used the “Did you feel it?” online reporting tool on the USGS website to report they noticed the earthquake.
USGS says that earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0 , more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.
An earthquake of similar intensity struck Great Bend, Pennsylvania 3 weeks ago, said USGS . Great Bend is located in northeastern Pennsylvania near the state line with New York, south of Binghamton. There’s been no other seismicity in the area of today’s earthquake over the last 3 weeks.
This latest earthquake could be related to the April 2024 quake which struck northern New Jersey. That earthquake and a resulting sequence of quakes began with a 4.8 magnitude event on Friday, April 5, 2024 and produced dozens of noticeable earthquakes in just the first week. There were a total of 53 earthquakes measured from April 5 through to April 12 with hundreds since.
Beyond the magnitude 4.8 earthquake, there were moderate aftershocks too. According to USGS, 3.7 magnitude event struck near Bedminster just before 6 pm on April 5, with 10 other earthquakes measuring as a 2.0 or greater magnitude event.
Beyond rattling nerves, the earthquake also damaged the contents of homes and businesses. In Berkeley Heights, Union County, New Jersey, the Berkeley Heights Fire Department reported that the foundation of a home there failed and that the primary earthquake on April 5 was a contributing factor. A Brooklyn middle school gym was deemed unsafe after a Department of Buildings inspection found cracks inside; the rest of the school at 370 Fountain Avenue was determined to be safe. Dozens of gas and water leaks were reported in the region, leaving people without utilities like power or water.
While they are less frequent and generally smaller than those in high-risk areas like the West Coast, earthquakes are a normal occurrence in New Jersey. Smaller earthquakes (magnitudes below 2.0) happen relatively often; New Jersey has had 11 earthquakes of magnitude 1.5 or greater in the past 365 days. Most are minor and not felt by residents, but larger, widely felt earthquakes do occur infrequently.
