N.J. earthquake rocks East Coast

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Central New Jersey rocked the East Coast Friday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake, which occurred shortly before 10:25 a.m., could be felt up and down the eastern seaboard, including wide areas of New Jersey, New York City and Long Island, and parts of Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The quake was felt by more than 42 million people, according to estimates.

“Our region just experienced an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.7, with an epicenter near Readington in Hunterdon County. We have activated our State Emergency Operations Center. Please do not call 911 unless you have an actual emergency,” Gov. Phil Murphy said on social media.

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The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake had a magnitude of 4.8 and was centered about 7 kilometers, or 4.3 miles, north of the Whitehouse Station section of Readington Township in Hunterdon County.

At about 12:20 p.m., the USGS reported a 2.0 aftershock centered west of Bedminster in Somerset County.

Preliminary data from the USGS. includes reports from people who said they felt the first earthquake from as far away as Amherst, Massachusetts, about 165 miles away from the quake’s epicenter.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the earthquake.

“He is in touch with his team who are monitoring potential impacts. The White House is in touch with federal, state, and local officials as we learn more,” the White House statement said.

Murphy said he spoke with Biden about the quake.

”He knows New Jersey cold. He said: Listen, whatever you need to correct build or otherwise, don’t hesitate to reach out,” the governor said in a television appearance on ABC.

So far, no major damage or injuries have been reported, Murphy said.

“If you are in a structure that has damage or is unstable, you should be getting out of there,” he said.

The quake was clearly felt in the National Weather Service’s main New Jersey forecast office in Mount Holly in Burlington County, with the building rattling Friday morning.

”We knew it was an earthquake,” said Alex Dodd, a meteorologist at the office. “We felt some gentle rolling. It kind of felt like a big truck going by.”

MORE: WATCH: Camera captures the moment earthquake hits near N.J. epicenter

People in different regions of New Jersey said they felt their houses and offices shaking for about 10 to 20 seconds, with windows rattling, light fixtures moving and floors feeling like they were shifting. Some reported hearing loud rumbling noises similar to the sound of large trucks or low-flying helicopters.

“We felt the building shaking,” said Amie Gallagher, director of the planetarium at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, about 5 miles from the epicenter of the quake. “A glass of water started to shake on the desk.”

“It felt like the air conditioner system started to start up, but it lasted longer and it became stronger than it usually is, to the point where we all knew something was wrong,” Gallagher added. “So, we all ran outside the building.”

Gallagher said students and staffers reacted quickly and remained calm as they evacuated all the buildings on campus.

“Nobody was panicking, but there were definitely some anxious faces outside,” she said.

Gallagher said people left the buildings so quickly that many forgot to grab their phones, purses and other personal belongings.

NJ Transit was reporting service system-wide is subject to up to 20-minute delays in both directions due to bridge inspections following the earthquake.

The FAA said the earthquake disrupted airports in the region. The quake “may impact some air traffic facilities in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Air traffic operations are resuming as quickly as possible,” the agency said.

Earthquakes are less common in New Jersey because the East Coast does not lie on a boundary of tectonic plates, which are parts of the Earth’s crust that slide past each other and build pressure when they get stuck.

The biggest quakes usually occur along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends through Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean.

East Coast quakes can still pack a punch. Compared to the western U.S., East Coast rocks are better at spreading earthquake energy across far distances, experts say.

The governor, who is out of state at a conference, said he learned about the earthquake shortly after it happened.

“Our son called us immediately and said I think we had an earthquake, he said it was a significant amount of jostling,” Murphy said in a television appearance on CBS.

”This is another great reminder — who saw a pandemic coming four years ago, who saw an earthquake coming this morning? We have to live and learn from something like that. We have to do a full post mortem to see where we were properly prepared and where we weren’t,” he added.

In recent years, New Jersey has experienced earthquakes ranging from a 1.7 magnitude quake southeast of Trenton in 2014 — weak enough that some people didn’t notice — to a 2.0 magnitude earthquake near Ringwood after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 to a 2.8 magnitude event near Bernardsville in 2015.

Mild temblors like those are typical of New Jersey earthquakes and mostly resulted in little damage.

The state geologist described the Friday morning earthquake as “near record-breaking for the Garden State,” according to state Environmental Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. An earthquake in 1783 in Rockaway Township “still holds the record at (magnitude) 5.3,” he said in a post on X.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Susan K. Livio and Brent Johnson, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Anthony Attrino may be reached at TAttrino@njadvancemedia.com.

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or @LensReality on X.