One Of The Largest East Coast Earthquakes On Record Rattles Residents
A “notable” 4.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the East Coast Friday morning caused building evacuations, briefly interrupted transit and made a handful of houses inhabitable, but does not appear to have caused substantial damage.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was near Lebanon, New Jersey, was felt across the Northeast and beyond. A second, magnitude 2.0 earthquake was reported around noon seven miles west of Bedminster, New Jersey, and two more aftershocks had been reported by early afternoon.
Minimal damage was reported, though several residents of Newark had to leave their homes after officials declared them unsafe. New York and Pennsylvania officials were also assessing the damage Friday. Some Pennsylvania school children sheltered in place.
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East Coast earthquakes are generally rare, and earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 or higher are even rarer. The shaking Tri-State residents began feeling about 10:23 a.m. EDT Friday took them by surprise.
One resident of Hilltown, Pennsylvania, where gas odors were reported, initially thought a helicopter was “flying extremely low or about to crash, as the windows … were rattling like never, ever before.”
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“I was actually expecting to see a mangled helicopter,” she said.
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