Shaking from minor earthquake in North Jersey reported as far south as Maryland

A minor early-morning earthquake centered in North Jersey rattled some residents, and its effects were reported as far south as the suburbs of Baltimore.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake, which hit at about 5:40 a.m. with an epicenter slightly west of Morris Plains in Morris County, at about 1.6 in magnitude. Earthquakes of that magnitude are considered to be minor, and don’t usually result in damage.

Still, by midday Monday, USGS had received more than 30 reports from people claiming to have felt shaking. Reports came from as far away as Cockeysville, Md., a Baltimore suburb where one person said its effects were felt — roughly 150 miles from its reported epicenter in North Jersey.

A majority of reports came from Randolph, Morris County, several miles from the tremor’s epicenter, where “weak” shaking was reported, according to USGS. One person reported “light” shaking in Morristown, a slightly higher measurement in the bureau’s parlance.

Monday, however, was not the first noticeable earthquake North Jersey residents experienced this year. In January, a 2.4 magnitude quake rattled the region, and was reported in areas as far away as Norristown, the geological survey reported.

Monday’s earthquake, while reported to USGS by dozens of people, pales in comparison to the 4.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Central Jersey in April 2024. On the geological survey’s scale, each order of magnitude represents a 10-fold increase in power, meaning the April 2024 quake was more than 30 times stronger than the one experienced Monday.

That difference is evidenced in the number of reports, with USGS reporting last year that the April earthquake resulted in more than 160,000 reports of tremors. The bureau estimated that roughly 42 million people felt that quake, including residents in the Philadelphia area.

That quake also resulted in more than 130 aftershocks in the days and weeks following the initial tremor, with the largest registering 3.8 in magnitude. Aftershocks were being measured for nearly a month, when a 2.9 magnitude aftershock was detected in Hunterdon County, not far from the original earthquake.

Still, that April 2024 quake, like Monday’s, was not considered major, and no major damage was reported. It was, however, felt from Maryland to Vermont.

Earthquakes along the East Cost, geologists said at the time, can impact larger areas than their West Coast counterparts due to the comparatively older, denser rock formations in the region, which allows tremors to propagate more readily.