Hours after the morning quake, a 4.0 magnitude aftershock struck a New Jersey town near the epicenter of Friday’s quake. The aftershocks were strong enough to shake the chandeliers in Manhattan’s City Hall.
The aftershock occurred early in the evening in Gladstone, New Jersey, close to the magnitude 4.8 morning earthquake in Lebanon, New Jersey, which occurred near an ancient crack in the Earth’s crust known as the Ramapo Fault.
The aftershock, which occurred some 80 miles away and shook City Hall’s majestic light fixtures, sent city officials rushing into the Manhattan press room to check on journalists.
Experts warned there was a nearly 40% chance of a number of other large tremors reaching magnitude 3.0 occurring in the region over the next week. The Ramapo Fault, which runs from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, is the longest in the Northeast.
A large aftershock occurred nearby Friday night and may have been felt in Brooklyn, shaking buildings and renewing fears for residents.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the New York City and Tri-State earthquakes
This morning’s magnitude 4.8 earthquake was already shaking the New York metropolitan area when it struck near Lebanon around 10:30 a.m.
Experts said the earthquake was felt relatively far and wide due to the influence of the Earth’s crust in the area.
“Earthquakes on the East Coast are felt four to five times more strongly than earthquakes of similar strength on the West Coast. Rocks are harder and seismic waves travel farther before decaying, which is why a similar earthquake in California is felt. “More people will feel the earthquake than if it had occurred,” said USGS seismologist Paul Earle.
Shannon Graham, Ph.D., an assistant professor of physics at the College of New Jersey, told the Post that the quake was likely the result of stress built up in the Earth’s crust along an “ancient plate boundary” where the African and continental continents formed hundreds of millions of years ago. He said that. The continent of North America joined together and then split apart.
“Think of it like bending a stick. There is energy stored in the center of the stick, and if the force exceeds it, it will break,” she said. “That’s what happens on Earth. It picks out weak zones along the rock where sliding occurs.”
Graham said it was “unlikely, but not impossible” that an earthquake could cause significant damage to the East Coast.
Residents at a building in Newark, New Jersey, had to be evacuated after an earthquake caused structural damage to the home.
At least 10 additional smaller aftershocks have already occurred in areas near the epicenter of Friday’s quake, including a magnitude 2.0 earthquake in Bedminster, New Jersey, around 1 p.m., according to the USGS. Aftershocks are also included.
Boris Heida, managing principal at structural engineering firm DeSimone Consulting Engineers, told the Post on Friday: “The earthquakes we’ve observed so far are around magnitude 2, which is one-hundredth of the magnitude of this earthquake.” ” he said.
He called Friday’s quake “a significant earthquake, especially for this region.”
The earthquake was the largest to occur in the New York area since 1884.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there is a 38% chance that up to 10 magnitude 3.0 aftershocks will occur in the region within the next week. The chance of at least one magnitude 4.0 occurring is 8%, and the probability of a magnitude 5.0 occurring is 1%. According to the website.
There is a 46% chance that a magnitude 3.0 aftershock will occur within a month.
