New York City, Tri-State area hit by earthquake

NEW YORK (AP) — An earthquake shook the densely populated New York City metropolitan area Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said, with residents reporting they felt rumbling across the Northeast.

The agency reported a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.7, centered near Lebanon, New Jersey, or about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia. The Fire Department of New York said there were no initial reports of damage.

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In midtown Manhattan, the usual cacophony of traffic grew louder as motorists blared their horns on momentarily shuddering streets. Some Brooklyn residents heard a booming sound and their buildings shaking. In an apartment house in Manhattan’s East Village, a resident from more earthquake-prone California calmed nervous neighbors.

People in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and other areas of the East Coast who are unaccustomed to earthquakes also reported feeling the ground shake.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on X 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.

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The shaking stirred memories of the Aug. 23, 2011, earthquake that jolted tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada. Registering a magnitude of 5.8, it was the strongest quake to hit the East Coast since World War II. 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 Sept. 11 terror attacks.

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Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report.