The 4.8 magnitude earthquake that struck New York on Friday was the largest seismic event in the region in over 250 years. East Coast locations, such as New Jersey and New York, do not lie on the edge of tectonic plates, unlike West Coast areas, such as California. The East Coast does have fault lines, but they haven’t been active in a long time.
The New York earthquake was triggered by the Ramapo Fault
According to experts cited by the Daily Mail, the quake was “certainly” triggered by the Ramapo Fault, a 185-mile-long fault that runs from New York to New Jersey and down into Pennsylvania. Because the nearest plate boundaries are in the center of the Atlantic Ocean, it is difficult to pinpoint which fault line caused an earthquake on the East Coast.
Kenneth Miller, a Rutgers University professor, told the Mail that the Ramapo Fault rarely causes earthquakes of higher than 3 magnitudes and that a six-seven-magnitude earthquake is very unlikely.
However, millions of years ago, the territory that would become New York was a place where huge earthquakes rattled the earth underneath. The fault lines that run through the area have become less active over time, making it unlikely that the city would experience a major earthquake.
Miller stated that, while the Ramapo Fault does not produce big seismic events, a rare interior-related seismic event is possible, which might explain the New Jersey and New York earthquakes.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck New York City and its surrounding areas at about 10:23 a.m. According to the USGS, the earthquake’s epicenter was northeast of Lebanon, New Jersey. The earthquake’s shocks were reportedly felt in locations ranging from Philadelphia to Boston. Friday’s earthquake was the most powerful one in New Jersey since 1738.