Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake Shakes Residents in Northeastern U.S.

An earthquake rattled residents of the northeast early Friday, and officials are working to determine if there was any damage.

CNBC reported that people from Boston all the way down to Baltimore felt the quake just before 10:30 a.m. ET.

“Many incoming flights at the three major airports in and around NewYork City were being diverted from landing [because of the quake], according to the Federal Aviation Administration,” the outlet said.

In a social media post just before 10:00 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquakes (USGS) said it was a 4.8-magnitude quake.

“Notable quake, preliminary info: M 4.8 – 7 km N of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey,” the agency reported:

According to the USGS website, an earthquake occurs when two blocks of earth quickly move past each other.

The surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane. The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter.

Sometimes an earthquake has foreshocks. These are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same place as the larger earthquake that follows. Scientists can’t tell that an earthquake is a foreshock until the larger earthquake happens. The largest, main earthquake is called the mainshock. Mainshocks always have aftershocks that follow. These are smaller earthquakes that occur afterwards in the same place as the mainshock.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said the earthquake was felt throughout her state. “My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” she wrote:

In January, another earthquake reportedly shook New York City, which “may have prompted reports of an explosion on the East River’s Roosevelt Island,” Fox 5 reported at the time.