2.7 Magnitude Earthquake Shook Central Jersey Early This Morning

Data via U.S. Geological Survey

An untimely earthquake early this morning jolted residents in Somerset County, New Jersey, and surrounding areas.

NJ.com reports that a 2.5 magnitude earthquake was detected 3.5 kilometers north of Bernardsville, New Jersey, near the border of Somerset County and Morris County. The Morris County 911 call center received calls from several towns and townships in the area, the article says.

The United States Geological Survey is calling the quake a 2.7 on the Richter Scale.

Screenshot via USGS

Although NJ.com reports no homes or business have been damaged, it adds that almost 100 people said they felt the earthquake from areas as far as 25 miles away around 6:30 a.m., two hours after it first hit.

Won-Young Kim, a Columbia University seismologist, told NJ.com that the earthquake occurred on a “polar fault,” an offshoot of the larger Ramapo fault. He added that the earthquake probably only shifted between 100 yards and a quarter-mile of fault line.

A seismological station is reportedly set up in a school in Bernards Township, Kim told the website, so seismologists were able to locate the earthquake pretty accurately.

Kim said he doesn’t expect much damage, but warned that people may have heard loud sound waves as a result of the event.

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