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Three Earthquakes Rattle New Jersey and New York Within 16 Minutes

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The epicenter of each of the three earthquakes is centered at the orange dot inside the concentric circles. Image: USGS
The epicenter of each of the three earthquakes is centered at the orange dot inside the concentric circles. Image: USGS

Three weak earthquakes rattled portions of New Jersey and northern New York State early Tuesday according to USGS. While they struck within 16 minutes of each other, they were too weak to create any damage or injuries.

The first of the three quakes struck at 4:40 am near Califon, New Jersey. Three other weak earthquakes struck this same area over the last 7 days; all four of these are aftershocks from the significant  4.8 magnitude event which struck on Friday, April 5. 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. Today’s earthquake, as well as others to strike the same general area over the last 7 days, have been weak. Today’s only measured as a 1.0 magnitude event.

The next two struck near the Canada/U.S. Border by Upstate New York. The first struck at 4:55 am and the next struck 1 minute later at 4:56 am about 50 miles north and west of the first. The first quake was a magnitude 1.2 event and it was followed by a stronger 1.8 magnitude event. The first quake was deep at 8.2 km but the second one was shallow at 1.5 km. Because of their proximity and timing, it is clear these two earthquakes are related to each other. It is unlikely, though, that these earthquakes are directly related to the New Jersey earthquake that happened minutes earlier.

New York is no stranger to earthquakes; this map shows the epicenter of every earthquake from 1975 to 2017. Image: NESEC
New York and the surround states are no stranger to earthquakes; this map shows the epicenter of every earthquake from 1975 to 2017. Image: NESEC

According to USGS, 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.

According to the Northeast States Emergency Consortium (NESEC), New York is a state with a very long  history of earthquake activity that has touched all parts of the state.  Since the first earthquake that was recorded in  December 19, 1737, New York has had over 550 earthquakes centered within its state boundaries through 2016. It also has experienced strong ground shaking from earthquakes centered in nearby U.S. states and Canadian provinces.  Most of the quakes in New York have taken place in the greater New York City area, in the Adirondack Mountains region, and in the western part of the state.

While many of the earthquakes to hit New York are weak like Tuesday’s, some have been damaging. Of the 551 earthquakes recorded between 1737 and 2016, 5 were considered “damaging”: 1737, 1929, 1944, 1983, and 2002.