From the NYPost:
A rare earthquake rocked the New York City area on Friday morning, swaying buildings and sending terrified residents into the streets — as the strongest tremblor to hit the Big Apple in 130 years.
City officials quickly warned people of the danger of potential aftershocks — which already began in the early afternoon in New Jersey, a report said.
The preliminary 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Lebanon, NJ, around 10:23 a.m., the first time a major temblor hit the city since 2011.according to the US Geological Survey.
“I was doing my morning reporting, and this safe in my office, that’s a ton, starts shaking. The whole room is shaking,” said Monique Horton, who works at the Balmain store on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. “I was just freaked out. Scary, really scary. I’m a New Yorker, my whole life, 36 years, never seen anything like it.”
At the United Nations in Midtown Manhattan, a Security Council address on the Israel-Gaza conflict was interrupted as cameras began shuddering.
The Federal Aviation Administration told airlines to expect flight delays in and out of the Big Apple because of the quake. Some flights bound for New York had already diverted to other airports, according to FlightAware.
The busy Holland Tunnel, too, was being temporarily shuttered for inspection, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.
Tremors could be felt as far north as New Paltz, New York, and as far south as Delaware.
US Geological Survey figures indicate the quake might have been felt by a staggering 42 million people.
“This is one of the largest earthquakes on the East Coast in the last century,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
The last time an earthquake with a magnitude close to, or above, 5 struck near New York City was back in 1884, the USGS said. That quake appeared to have been centered in Brooklyn.
A more minor quake was last felt in the city in 2011 and started in Virginia.
An aftershock Friday occurred in Bedminister, NJ, about two hours after the quake in Lebanon, according to the local Patch.
Both Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams said there were no initial reports of injuries or damage from Friday’s quake, but warned New Yorkers to be wary of possible aftershocks.
“We are always concerned about aftershocks after an earthquake but New Yorkers should go about their normal day,” Hizzoner said.
“Earthquakes don’t happen every day in New York so this can be extremely traumatic. I encourage New Yorkers to check on their loved ones to make sure that they are fine.”
City and state officials said there were no reported infrastructure issues as a result of the quake, noting that all major bridges and tunnels had been inspected.
“At this point… we’ve not identified any life-threatening situations, but we are certainly asking our local law enforcement and emergency services teams to be on guard for that as well,” Hochul said.
“But again, we are going to be reviewing all potentially vulnerable infrastructure sites throughout the state of New York that is critically important in the aftermath of an event like this.”
“It’s been a very unsettling day to say the least,” she said, adding she had been in communication with the White House. “Everyone should continue to take this seriously.”
Still, reports of the quake sparked a flurry of memes and jokes on social media, with the Empire State Building’s official X account jumping into the fray, quipping, “I AM FINE.”
“We survived the NYC earthquake. We will rebuild,” one user wrote alongside a photo of a fallen trash can.
“As New York was hit by an earthquake, I couldn’t help but wonder, were the tecnotic [sic] plates as unstable as my history with Big?” another wrote, riffing off Sex and The City’s Carrie Bradshaw.
“Did we shake or were we shook?” another user posted on X alongside footage of Oprah.
But residents all over the tri-state area — and beyond — were still rattled.
Kelly Shone, a mom of two who works nights in Newark, Del., said she felt a “slight rumbling” while in bed Friday morning.
“I thought it was my husband walking heavily downstairs at first,” Shone told The Post.
“Oh, my God! I jumped and started looking out my windows. That was scary!” said Traci Slade, a 50-year-old mom of two and software insurance employee who felt the quake at her home in Clifton, NJ.
Panicked workers evacuated some buildings in Queens in the aftermath, including paralegal Felicia Alfred, who said, “We thought the building was going to collapse on us.”
From NYPost.com