New York City shakes as 4.8 magnitude earthquake hits US north-east

An earthquake shook the densely populated New York City metropolitan area Friday morning, the US Geological Survey said, with residents reporting they felt rumbling across the eastern seaboard.

The agency reported a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Lebanon, New Jersey.

People reported feeling the quake in neighbouring states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, with the Weather Channel reporting that it was noticeable in Boston and residents in Philadelphia reporting they felt it, too.

The fire department of New York said on Friday there were no initial reports of damage.

The New York police department’s deputy commissioner of operations, Kaz Daughtry, said in a statement: “While we do not have any reports of major impacts at this time, we’re still assessing the impact.”

The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, posted on social media that the quake was felt throughout the state. “My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” Hochul said.

Later, in a press conference, Hochul said: “This is one of the largest earthquakes on the east coast to occur in the last century.”

The shaking stirred memories of the 23 August 2011, earthquake that jolted tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada. Registering magnitude 5.8, it was the strongest quake to hit the east coast since the second world war. The epicenter was in Virginia.

That earthquake left cracks in the Washington Monument, spurred the evacuation of the White House and Capitol and rattled New Yorkers three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.

Meanwhile on Friday, the official social media account of the Empire State Building reassured its fans: