Three more minor earthquakes
jolted northern Morris County Sunday, three days after a larger quake
was felt in the same area, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed on
Monday.
The epicenter of the earthquakes was about 1 mile northeast of Kinnelon, according to Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the U.S.G.S. in Golden, Co. All were minor tremors, the first registering a magnitude of 0.6 at 10:07 a.m., and the second registering a 0.1 at 10:48 a.m. Both of those tremors were estimated to have originated at a depth of 1 mile. A third and final quake, a 0.2 originating at a depth of .3 miles, was recorded Sunday at 7:31 p.m.
All three quakes were pinpointed to an area just north of Hamburg Turnpike, between Macopin Road and Vreeland Avenue, on a map published by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Cooperative.
Higher magnitudes for the latest quakes were incorrectly reported on Sunday by other news outlets including the Associated Press.
The U.S.G.S. says earthquakes with a magnitude between 1.0 and 3.0 aren’t typically felt. But Butler Police Chief Ciro Chimento said his department fielded enough calls from residents on Sunday to post an update on the department Facebook page and issue a Nixle alert.
“I would say the calls were more about curiosity than concern, but we wanted people to know we are monitoring the situation,” Chimento said. “The first one, people said they could feel it, and the second was more about people hearing something.”
Chimento said he alerted the Morris County Office of Emergency Management on Sunday night to discuss the situation. Butler police also fielded more than 1,000 calls about the 1.6-magnitude quake that occurred at 8:17 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18, centered in the same spot as the Sunday quakes.
“We believe (the Sunday earthquakes) to be minor aftershocks of the Feb. 18 quake, and not likely felt at the surface,” said New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Bob Considine.
Another magnitude-2.07 earthquake also hit northern New Jersey on Jan. 2. Mahwah residents as well as those in New York’s Rockland County also reported feeling that quake.
Caruso said it is not unusual for multiple tremors to occur in a short space of time, and sees no reasons for concern for residents in the area.
Earthquakes are generally less frequent and less intense in the northeast compared to the U.S. Pacific Coast, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. But due to geological differences between the regions, earthquakes of similar magnitude affect an area 10 times larger in the Northeast U.S. compared the West Coast.
New Jersey’s largest recorded earthquake occurred in 1783. Felt from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, that earthquake was estimated at a magnitude of 5.3.
New Jersey has never recorded a fatality due to an earthquake, according to the DEP.
Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.
The epicenter of the earthquakes was about 1 mile northeast of Kinnelon, according to Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the U.S.G.S. in Golden, Co. All were minor tremors, the first registering a magnitude of 0.6 at 10:07 a.m., and the second registering a 0.1 at 10:48 a.m. Both of those tremors were estimated to have originated at a depth of 1 mile. A third and final quake, a 0.2 originating at a depth of .3 miles, was recorded Sunday at 7:31 p.m.
All three quakes were pinpointed to an area just north of Hamburg Turnpike, between Macopin Road and Vreeland Avenue, on a map published by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Cooperative.
Higher magnitudes for the latest quakes were incorrectly reported on Sunday by other news outlets including the Associated Press.
The U.S.G.S. says earthquakes with a magnitude between 1.0 and 3.0 aren’t typically felt. But Butler Police Chief Ciro Chimento said his department fielded enough calls from residents on Sunday to post an update on the department Facebook page and issue a Nixle alert.
“I would say the calls were more about curiosity than concern, but we wanted people to know we are monitoring the situation,” Chimento said. “The first one, people said they could feel it, and the second was more about people hearing something.”
Chimento said he alerted the Morris County Office of Emergency Management on Sunday night to discuss the situation. Butler police also fielded more than 1,000 calls about the 1.6-magnitude quake that occurred at 8:17 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18, centered in the same spot as the Sunday quakes.
“We believe (the Sunday earthquakes) to be minor aftershocks of the Feb. 18 quake, and not likely felt at the surface,” said New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Bob Considine.
Another magnitude-2.07 earthquake also hit northern New Jersey on Jan. 2. Mahwah residents as well as those in New York’s Rockland County also reported feeling that quake.
Caruso said it is not unusual for multiple tremors to occur in a short space of time, and sees no reasons for concern for residents in the area.
Earthquakes are generally less frequent and less intense in the northeast compared to the U.S. Pacific Coast, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. But due to geological differences between the regions, earthquakes of similar magnitude affect an area 10 times larger in the Northeast U.S. compared the West Coast.
New Jersey’s largest recorded earthquake occurred in 1783. Felt from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, that earthquake was estimated at a magnitude of 5.3.
New Jersey has never recorded a fatality due to an earthquake, according to the DEP.
Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.
