At 10:23 a.m. ET, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake rattled the East Coast, sending tremors throughout New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, and Connecticut, and bringing many New York vacationers to a halt.
This was a comparatively small quake, and there have been no reviews of accidents or infrastructure injury up to now.
A quake of this measurement is “sufficient to rattle the partitions, however typically not produce extreme injury,” stated Kenneth Miller, a geologist at Rutgers College, in an e-mail assertion.
USGS
This quake occurred on the Ramapo Border fault at an estimated depth of simply over 4 miles, Miller stated.
Earthquakes alongside this fault should not unusual, however they’re normally magnitude three or decrease. Some aftershocks could possibly be attainable, however they’re going to be a lot smaller, he wrote.
This can be a uncommon incidence for this aspect of the US. Earthquakes within the Northeast are much less seemingly as a result of this area is not positioned on a tectonic plate boundary: the place two totally different plates meet.
Final yr in New York, for instance, there have been solely 4 earthquakes. Whereas in California, there have been over 9,000, in response to World Inhabitants Overview.
With solely three days till the full photo voltaic eclipse on April 8, many are questioning whether or not the eclipse might have triggered at the moment’s quake. Here is what science says about it.
Photo voltaic eclipses don’t trigger earthquakes
The upcoming photo voltaic eclipse on April 8 does not considerably have an effect on Friday’s earthquake, in response to the United States Geological Survey.
John Finney pictures / Getty Pictures
Some analysis suggests {that a} new moon — which is what offers rise to a photo voltaic eclipse as a result of the moon is positioned between the Earth and the solar — can improve the chance of sturdy earthquakes.
However at the moment’s earthquake was too small for this to be the case.
“That is unrelated to the photo voltaic eclipse. Earthquakes of this measurement there’s mainly no correlation with celestial our bodies,” stated Paul Earle, director of operations on the USGS Nationwide Earthquake Data Heart, throughout a briefing on Friday.
So whereas experiencing an earthquake three days earlier than the photo voltaic eclipse is a uncommon and attention-grabbing phenomenon, it is also a random coincidence.
