Feb 15, 2009 10:27 am US/Eastern
Another Small Earthquake Rattles Central N.J.
MORRISTOWN, N.J. (CBS) ―
For the second time in two weeks, a small earthquake has rattled an area of central New Jersey.
But like the last quake in Morris County, no significant damage or injuries were reported.
The latest earthquake, with a magnitude of 2.2, was recorded shortly before 5:30 p.m. Saturday, said Scott DiGiralomo, a coordinator with the county's office of emergency management. He told The Star-Ledger of Newark that the quake's epicenter was about 6 miles north of Boonton, and it was felt in neighboring Montville.
An earthquake of magnitude 3.0 had rattled windows and alarmed residents of several Morris communities on Feb. 2 at 10:34 p.m., triggering a flood of 9-1-1 calls.
"It sounded like an explosion and the house shook," resident Dan Servidio said.
The epicenter was five miles west-northwest of Morristown, along the
Ramapo fault. It could be felt in Rockaway, Dover and Morris Plains as
far as 30 miles away.
"We felt rumbling and thought something fell off a shelf," resident Lisa Cheek said.
"I was upstairs on my computer, and all of a sudden I hear a boom, boom, boom, then a bang, bang, bang. My monitor almost fell off of my computer desk," said resident Stephen Garcia. "So I immediately went downstairs to check on my grandma and ask her if she was alright or if she fell."
Scientists said the quake was shallow, only two miles deep. It had a magnitude of 3.0. Seismologist Dr. Won-Young Kim is with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York where the quake was recorded. He said the quake was big for this area. "We usually have 2 or 2.5," he said.
The quake lasted almost ten seconds. Last July there was a 2.1. "Three or greater is very rare," he said.
What caused it was an abrupt shift of horizontal plates below the surface, along the faultline. It would've been felt farther away if the movement of plates was more intense.
Amy Vaughn, a Geophysicist from USGS also spoke with CBS 2 HD: "This is what's considered a micro-size quake. However, it is widely
felt in this area. But usually a quake of this size is not going to be
very damaging."
The official explanation: there's no fault line in that area, just a
shifting of the earth and scientists say small earthquakes or tremors
strike our area more often than people realize.
"I actually thought there was a huge plow in my driveway, cause there was such a huge rumbling," Bernie Recevello said.
Within the coming week there could be aftershocks, up to a magnitude 2. They have to be 1.5 in order to be felt.
Despite rattling some nerves across the area, no injuries were reported as a result of the quake.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments