4.8-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Northeast of New York

Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer

On Friday morning, April 5, a 4.8-magnitude earthquake rattled the Northeast of New York State. The earthquake reached parts of the SUNY Oneonta area, as well as other states such as Connecticut. In New York City, emergency plans and protocols crews were dispatched to check on the structural integrity of the infrastructure in the city, such as bridges and tunnels, before citizens could use them after the earthquake. The earthquake’s epicenter was near Lebanon, New Jersey.

According to NBC, the damage done was minimal and the Northeast was lucky. In an interview conducted by NBC, Jackie Bray, The Commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services mentioned that the earthquake we experienced was rare. ‘‘It’s all about weighing risks,” Bray said. “These are rare events and, you know, today we saw forty-five miles West of Manhattan a 4.8-magnitude earthquake with really either no or minimal impacts to infrastructure. That’s good news for all of us. I think at this point we’re appropriately weighing the risk factors.’” 

Around early evening that same day, reports covered an aftershock from the earthquake. Kishor S. Jaiswal, a research structural engineer in the U.S. Geological Survey, conducted an interview with The New York Times about what to expect for the week after the earthquake. ‘‘The aftershocks will likely continue for several days and even a week,” Jaiswal had said. It was revealed there was a chance that an earthquake with the same or larger magnitude could occur during such a sequence. It’s not unusual for aftershocks to be felt for several days or a week after an earthquake with a 4.8-magnitude. According to the U.S Geological Survey, the aftershock was felt almost eight hours after the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.0. That’s still a significant tremor for an aftershock eight hours later. 

When the earthquake hit, several measures were taken to ensure public safety. Ground stops were ordered at several airports for structure inspections. New Jersey Transit delayed up to twenty minutes in both directions for bridge inspections. But New York City subways and Amtrak continued their scheduled course for the day. 

The Governor of New York State was in contact with a White House Representative and Homeland Security to help ensure everything was okay after the earthquake. They wanted to ensure that every precaution was taken for safety reasons. The Northeast of New York got lucky, as most earthquakes can leave a lasting impact in certain areas like cities. Since then no other seismic activity has been reported.