A wide area of the northeastern U.S. coast, including New York City, was rocked by a rare strong earthquake Friday, but it had only limited impacts on transportation and daily life.
The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 occurred at a depth of 4.7 kilometers in Lebanon, New Jersey, at 10:23 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was felt for a span of seconds across the area, including in high rises in Manhattan, some 70 km from the focus.
"This is one of the largest earthquakes on the East Coast to occur in the last century," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters after the quake that led to temporary ground stops at John F. Kennedy and Newark airports.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told a separate briefing, "At this point, we do not have any reports of major impacts to our infrastructure or injuries."
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates subways and other trains as well as buses in the city and its suburbs, said its services were operating "safely and normally" following the earthquake.
Olga Maksimova, 63, experienced the first quake of her life while waiting for customers at the cafe she owns in the city's East Village neighborhood.
"My plants started shivering and it looked like I had a train on my roof. I went outside because I was scared," she said.
Samantha LaPare, a 27-year-old publicist, said she thought a truck was going by the Manhattan building where she lives, but soon realized it was an earthquake.
During the span of "eight to 10 seconds," she said her startled cats were looking around in confusion and glasses were shaking on their shelves.
"I moved all my glassware down a little bit just in case an aftershock comes," LaPare said.
The USGS has logged seven earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 or higher within a 400-km radius of New York City since 1957, and Friday's quake had the third-highest magnitude among the available data, according to The New York Times.
