New Yorker Marge Fox woke up to her home in Montgomery, Orange County, shaking.

“It felt like the glass was rattling. The clock on the wall was rattling,” she said. “And I thought maybe my washing machine had gone crazy and was moving all around. But then I went outside, and my neighbor said there was an earthquake.”

From the Hudson Valley up to the Capital Region and across much of the East Coast, folks felt the effects of a rare northeastern earthquake.

The United States Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the New Jersey-based quake at 4.8 on Richter Scale. No immediate damage was reported from the shaking, though it did slow things down around the tri-state area.

The Holland Tunnel closed briefly for inspections, and flights at Newark and JFK airports were grounded while runways were checked for damage. No issues were found.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said crews will continue working to ensure the state’s infrastructure is secure.

“Surveying our bridges, our roads, any area there could be a fault line that is not easily detectable to make sure that our passengers and our rails, as well as our commuters are safe," she said. 

What You Need To Know

  •   A 4.8 earthquake originated from Whitehouse Station, New Jersey after 10 a.m. Friday

  • The quake could be felt from Quebec down to Virginia and through much of Eastern New York   

  • No immediate damage was apparent, though crews were checking the state's infastructure 

According to the USGS, reports of the quake stretched from Quebec down to Virginia. Earthquakes in this region are much less frequent because it doesn’t sit on a boundary between the earth’s plates, like California and other areas. But inactive faults around mountain ranges can still become active and cause tremors.

Multiple aftershocks from the earthquake were confirmed on Friday. 

“Earthquakes can happen anywhere in the world at pretty much any any time," said USGS Earthquake Science Center Director Christine Goulet. "But the larger quakes are more rare in the East Coast. And as we can see, this one is magnitude 4.8 to us. It’s not a large earthquake, but it distresses people.”

Goulet said that after this event, folks should be ready and have a plan in case of a bigger earthquake.

“To me, it's a reminder for everyone to be prepared," she said. "To have an emergency plan with your family and friends and to know what to do if it shakes: drop, cover and hold on.”