Earthquake shakes New Jersey near NYC: USGS confirms 2.7 magnitude quake

A small earthquake hit New Jersey on Tuesday just after noon — at exactly 12:11 p.m. ET, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The quake had a magnitude of 2.7 and happened about 7.7 miles deep, near Hillsdale, New Jersey, which is 25 miles from Midtown Manhattan.

The exact spot was traced to Viola Terrace in Westwood, based on the USGS’s latitude and longitude data. People in the area were surprised, with one user on X writing: "Why did my building just shake again?" Bergen County’s Office of Emergency Management is checking for any damage, but as of now, no damage has been reported.

Comes right after another quake

This latest quake comes only a few days after a 3.0 magnitude earthquake hit the NYC metro area on Saturday night, reported by the Associated Press. The Saturday quake was felt all across NYC and even reached up to Connecticut, but there were no injuries or serious damage, as per the report by Fox5.


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NYC officials said that by Sunday morning, there were no building-related emergencies reported — even though New York has over 1 million buildings. After Saturday's quake, the USGS got over 10,000 reports from people on its "Did You Feel It?" website.

Earthquakes in NYC happen more than you think

Earthquakes in the New York area are not rare — they happen every couple of years, according to USGS history data. The New York - Philadelphia - Wilmington urban zone sees small earthquakes regularly, and moderate ones about twice every 100 years — with major quakes recorded in 1737 and 1884, as stated by the Fox5 report.

Since 1950, there have been 43 earthquakes of similar size (to this week's) within 155 miles of the epicenter. East Coast earthquakes are felt over much larger areas than West Coast ones. For example , a 4.0 quake can be felt 100 km away and a 5.5 quake can be felt up to 500 km away.

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Recent examples, in April 2024, a 4.8 magnitude quake in Tewksbury, NJ, was felt as far as Boston and Baltimore. In January 2024, a 1.7 quake in Astoria, Queens, was felt locally but caused no damage.

Unlike the San Andreas Fault in California, East Coast quakes aren’t usually tied to famous fault lines. That’s because they’re far from tectonic plate boundaries and are caused by hidden underground faults, say USGS scientists, as mentioned in the report by Fox5.

FAQs

Q1. Was there an earthquake in New Jersey today near NYC?
Yes, a 2.7 magnitude earthquake hit near Hillsdale, New Jersey, at 12:11 p.m. ET on Tuesday, according to the USGS.

Q2. How often do earthquakes happen in New York and New Jersey?
Small earthquakes hit the NYC area every few years, and moderate ones happen about twice every 100 years, says the USGS.