A minor earthquake struck the New York metropolitan area on Saturday night, briefly shaking buildings and surprising residents across the city and its suburbs.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the tremor registered a magnitude of 3.0 and occurred at a depth of approximately 10 kilometres. The epicentre was located in Hasbrouck Heights, a suburban town in New Jersey less than 13 kilometres west of Manhattan’s Central Park.
New York residents reacts to incident
Residents across parts of New York, including Brooklyn, reported feeling a brief moment of movement. One individual described the sensation as “just a slight swaying for a moment”.
Despite its relatively mild magnitude, the tremor quickly became a topic of conversation on social media. The official account of the Empire State Building took to X (formerly Twitter) with a light-hearted post: “I AM FINE.”
A 3.0 magnitude earthquake is generally not strong enough to cause damage, and New York City’s emergency management agency confirmed there were no immediate reports of any major impact. However, such seismic activity remains rare in the north-eastern United States, making the event noteworthy despite its lack of consequences.
The tremor was significantly milder than the 4.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Tewksbury, New Jersey, in 2024. That quake was felt widely across the tri-state area and prompted brief evacuations in some buildings, though it too caused minimal structural damage.
