More than 50 aftershocks have been felt across New Jersey after an earthquake uncommonly shook the Northeast.
On Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was felt in New York City and as far away as Washington, D.C., with its epicenter in New Jersey. An estimated 43 million people felt the earthquake, one of the strongest in the state’s history. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 50 aftershocks have been felt since then.
“No one can predict the exact time, location, or place of any earthquake,” said Sarah McBride from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program.
Earthquake aftershocks, ranging from 1.3 to 3.8 in magnitude, have been felt across the Garden State in the week since the April 5 quake. On Wednesday, a 2.6 magnitude earthquake was felt in New Jersey and registered 3 miles deep.
“Basically, you never have just one earthquake,” San Diego State Geologist Pat Abbott told Fox Weather. “Once the Earth has fractured in someplace and moved, that means it’s moved a lot of stress forward, which is going to cause adjoining areas to move as well.”
The USGS is now deploying “aftershock kits” to better understand the effects of aftershocks in the area. It will deploy eight kits across the area to track the origin of aftershocks, how long they last, and how strong they are.
While earthquakes in the Eastern U.S. are uncommon, when they do occur, they are felt stronger and across a more expansive range than those that happen in the West. The USGS believes this is because rock formations are much older in the Eastern U.S. The East is also less mountainous than the West, where mountains are constantly pushing against each other.
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There were no reports of serious injury or damage from Friday’s earthquake. To stay safe from earthquakes, people should remember to drop, cover, and hold on.
“That means drop to the ground or lower your center of gravity, take cover under a sturdy desk or table and cover your neck and head with one arm, and hold to your cover with the other arm until the shaking stops,” said Hollie Stark, outreach program manager at the Washington Emergency Management Division.