'That was insane': Internet abuzz as rare earthquake of 4.8 magnitude rattles New York City

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: New York City, the city that never sleeps, found itself shaken awake on Friday, April 5, by a rare and unexpected 4.8 magnitude earthquake, as per The Daily Beast.

The seismic event left residents and authorities scrambling to assess the aftermath while the Internet erupted with a flood of reactions.

Ground stops were temporarily issued at John F Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports owing to the sudden NYC earthquake

The earthquake struck at approximately 10.23 am and was centered in Lebanon, New Jersey, around 50 miles from Manhattan, as per the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Its tremors extended to Philadelphia in the south and reached as far north as Long Island and Westchester County.

While no significant damage was immediately reported, the earthquake's impact spread through the city's infrastructure. The Federal Aviation Administration promptly issued a ground stop for all flights out of the region's international airports, John F Kennedy and Newark Liberty, as a precautionary measure.

The ground stop at JFK was lifted around 11.30 am, while Newark Liberty's order expired at 12.30 pm, following thorough runway inspections. The Port Authority Transit Corporation, responsible for transit between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, temporarily suspended service but swiftly resumed normal operations by 11.45 am.

United States Geological Survey estimates a three percent chance of a more powerful aftershock

Trish Hegeman, the executive director of Mane Stream, a nonprofit providing therapeutic services to individuals with special needs, shared, "We heard a huge noise, like trucks may be getting into an accident or something like that... It was just a lot of really big shaking. We didn’t have any damage, but we had one picture fall off the wall."

The epicenter was found to be directly beneath their building in Oldwick, New Jersey.

While the United States Geological Survey estimated a three percent chance of a more powerful aftershock within the next week, New York City officials remained calm and level-headed.

Mayor Eric Adams, who admitted to not even feeling the quake himself at Gracie Mansion, encouraged New Yorkers to continue their Friday routines as normal.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul took to X (formerly Twitter), to assure residents that officials were "assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred," promising updates throughout the day.

Internet reacts to New York City's 4.8 magnitude earthquake

One exclaimed, "That was insane," while another shared, "Haven’t felt one of those in ages kinda scary…."

A person described the experience, writing, "Yes! 30 seconds of unmistakable shaking," and someone else echoed, "Omg definitely felt shaking."

An individual summed up the atmosphere, noting, "Scary!! Everything was shaking."

One more remarked, "Literally ran around the house to see what was going on, I though my drying machine was going berserk." 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.