- By Graeme Baker, BBC News, Washington DC
A rare earthquake has hit New Jersey, rattling buildings in New York City and the surrounding areas.
The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude-4.8 quake’s epicentre was near Lebanon, New Jersey.
A UN Security Council meeting on Gaza at its New York headquarters was temporarily paused due to the tremor.
“Is that an earthquake?” said Save the Children representative Janti Soeripto, who was speaking at the time.
The earthquake hit at around 10:20 local time (15:20 GMT) and lasted around 20-30 seconds. Social media users reported shaking from Philadelphia eastward and along the coast.
There are no reports of major damage. However aircraft at two airports – JFK and Newark – were put on a ground stop while runways were inspected.
Buildings were shaken in the city’s Brooklyn and the Bronx districts, rattling cupboard, doors and fixtures.
Charita Walcott, a 38-year-old resident in the Bronx, said the quake felt “like a violent rumble that lasted about 30 seconds or so”.
“It was kind of like being in a drum circle, that vibration,” she said.
“I was laying in my bed, and my whole apartment building started shaking. I started freaking out,” another New York resident told the BBC’s US partner CBS.
Fabien Levy of the New York Mayor’s office said officials were assessing the impact of the tremors.
New York state Governor Kathy Hochul said there had been no reports of major damage or injuries but warned of potential aftershocks.
The East Coast and New York City does experience quakes, although they are rare.
A quake hit near the town of Newcomb in upstate New York with a 5.1 magnitude in 1983, and a 5.0-magnitude tremor was measured in New York City in 1884.
In 2011, a 5.8 quake struck in Virginia, rattled the entire East Coast and forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate buildings in New York, Washington DC and other cities.
Ramapo Fault runs from the Appalachian mountains through New Jersey, and there are at least five smaller fault lines under Manhattan island.