WESTON, Mass. — Shakes and rattles from the 4.8 magnitude earthquake in New Jersey were also felt in Massachusetts.
“I could definitely feel the rocking of the house, it was shaky and the glasses were making noise and it was like, ‘I don’t believe this,’” said Cheryl Shanefsky, Medway.
From the Cape to Worcester and Medfield to Medway, people in Massachusetts said they felt it.
“All of the sudden the bed started to shake the windows started to rattle, I’m saying, ‘What the heck is happening here?’” said Alan Shanefsky.
John Ebel, Senior Research Scientist at the Weston Observatory, said the last time there was an earthquake like this in the northeast was 22 years ago.
He said this quake occurred 2.503 miles below the earth’s surface, which is typical for this part of the country and because the rock is cold, the vibrations travel further.
“Hot rock kind of absorbs the vibration, cold rock just transmits it very, very far,” said Ebel.
He said while there is the Ramapo Fault in New Jersey with the highlands on one side and the New Jersey Basin on the other side, scientists will have to conduct studies to determine if it’s actually connected to the quake.
Some people in Massachusetts said they thought the movement was all in their heads.
“I felt like I was riding a boat like motion,” said Michelle of Medfield. “I’m just like, ‘Am I dizzy or what’s going on?”
Once word got around that the shaking and rocking was an actual earthquake, they said everything made sense.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s what that was, that explains it,’” said Michelle.
Ebel said earthquakes usually start causing damage around a magnitude 5, so he isn’t expecting to hear much about this one.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2024 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
