On Friday April 5, 2024, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.8 shook New Jersey. The epicenter was around Tewksbury, New Jersey. While this earthquake is relatively small globally, most earthquakes of this magnitude are commonly felt in the eastern United States because of efficient seismic wave propagation or a ground motion phenomenon in the region, as stated by Wired.
Not many people knew what was happening at first, especially the teachers at West Morris Central. For example Dr. Horne, one of the teachers in the science department “thought it was something normal” as sometimes the wind is crazy near the classrooms but quickly realized something intense was happening. She continued on saying it was “kind of cool that something like this happened in New Jersey, as this usually never happens here.” Rachel Dilling, a student that was in a chemistry classroom when the earthquake happened, “heard the rumble” when the classroom started shaking. “At that point the class started screaming and our teacher, Mr Coiro, started to tell students to get under desks and protect themselves and then he went into the hallway and told kids to do the same thing.” During this time, her class was doing a lab involving glass so when the earthquake was going on glass started to shatter and fall which made the earthquake louder. Luckily, no one was injured too badly and they were able to be safe during that time.
CNN stated that there were at least 11 aftershocks from 12:00 pm on April 5th to then April 6th at 6AM, which also includes a 4.0 magnitude that struck nearly 8 hours after the initial quakes. It was approximately the third largest earthquake recorded in the area in the last five decades and the strongest in New Jersey in more than 240 years, according to the USGS, otherwise known as the United States Geological Survey
However most of the aftershocks were not as big other than the one that struck at 6 PM, ranging from 1.8 to 2.2 that were too small to be felt.
Mr Jacobsen, a history teacher at West Morris Central, stated that in the end, the earthquake was “ a nerve wracking experience, but it wasn’t a big deal when you think about it.” Mr. Jacobsen was also used to this experience, as growing up he lived in Ohio and had experienced earthquakes already.
Sophomore Aadarshini Vinod Das, stated she “was sitting in the aux gym and it started shaking and a part of the vent fell down and it was so scary. The bleachers were rumbling and shaking aggressively and at that point we had to go inside the locker rooms to protect ourselves more safely. It was an experience I had never been in before, having to move during the shelter in place due to how unstable the gym was.” After the earthquake ended, they were still in the locker rooms until the bell had finally rung and everyone returned to the normal schedule.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said there were limited reports of damage and “little to no injuries” in the state. In an area of at least 30 miles from the epicenter, Tewksbury, three neighboring homes in Newark were evacuated after residents reported structural damage, according to Newark Public safety director Fritz Frage. In addition, states such as New York, Philadelphia, and Conneciuct thankfully had also reported no injuries or damage to homes or public areas following the morning quake.
The rare tremor was felt by millions of people across hundreds of miles, disrupting work and school life and briefly scaring many people before. It’s a day that many people in this area will remember for a long time.
