More than two dozen neighbors in Newark, New Jersey, may soon be able to return to their homes after being forced to evacuate Friday due to earthquake damage.
Those evacuations were among the most serious reports in the region after the 4.8-magnitude quake, which was centered in New Jersey around 10:30 a.m. Friday and rumbled across several states. There were no large power outages, and officials said utility infrastructure appeared largely unaffected.
A spokesperson for Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé said 10 families, including 25 adults and three children, were relocated from three multifamily homes on Seventh Avenue. The public safety office said late Friday it was waiting to hear back from engineers about when residents might be able to return.
Most of the residents found other places to stay through family or friends, but homeless services teams transported eight people to shelters or a hotel, according to the Newark's mayor's office.
"The expectation is this will be a short-lived stay away from home," said Susan Garofalo, spokesperson for Mayor Ras Baraka. Inspectors on site "are there looking and haven’t found reason for them to not come home," she said.
The three buildings, located about two blocks east of Branch Brook Park, stand inches apart. The roof of one building appeared to be jetting into the side of another when Gothamist arrived on Friday afternoon, but the same damage could be seen in earlier images on Google’s Street View. The public safety office wasn’t immediately able to say how new the damage was.
Karina Cruz, one of the displaced residents, said she was inside her apartment when she felt the ground shake.
“I only felt like my bed was moving so hard, and I (thought) that someone was moving it because I didn’t know what happened,” she said.
After the earthquake, Newark closed all municipal buildings, including its City Hall and recreation centers, and officials were inspecting other buildings for damage, according to Fragé's office. Garofalo said she expects the offices to be open on Monday.
In New York City, officials asked contractors to inspect work sites for possible damage to buildings, cranes, scaffolding and other equipment that might have come loose during the quake. City building officials also warned that poorly maintained buildings and older structures are uniquely susceptible to earthquakes. Residents who spot significant building damage should call 911.
The roof of one home on Newark's 7th Avenue gets into the neighboring building. The damage was visible Friday after residents evacuated their homes following an earthquake, but at least some of the damage can also be seen in earlier images of the houses on Google Street View.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reopened the Holland Tunnel following a short delay Friday morning.
NYC schools did not report any damage, according to education department spokesperson Nathaniel Styer. Spokespeople for several major hospital systems in the region, including Northwell Health, Mount Sinai Health System and RWJBarnabas Health, said on Friday that the earthquake had no immediate impact on their facilities or operations.
Inspectors, architects and construction site managers who spoke with Gothamist on Friday morning said they had not received reports of damages or disruption. Engineer Jason Damiano said the earthquake may prompt people to investigate the conditions of their homes.
“People start feeling vibrations and then they look at their walls and they start to notice cracks,” he said.
Karen Romano, borough administrator for the town of Lebanon near the quake’s epicenter, said the event scared residents.
“It felt like you were in the Tower of Terror,” she said, referring to a ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. “Everything went up and down.”
Workers at the decommissioned Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County said they felt the quake and initiated standard lockdown procedures, according to Patrick O'Brien, the government affairs director for the facility’s owner, Hotel International.
“The spent fuel pool and reactor cavities were designed for an earthquake a lot larger than this,” O’Brien said.
Evelyn Antonetty, hosts her evacuated neighbors on her porch on Newark's 7th Avenue Friday.
At PSEG’s Salem and Hope Creek nuclear generating station, operations continued as usual Friday, spokesperson William Smith wrote in an email.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a small aftershock approximately an hour after the initial quake, which was less than half the magnitude of the initial temblor and occurred about 4 miles from the original’s epicenter. A much larger 3.8-magnitude aftershock hit near the original epicenter around 6 p.m. Friday.
NYC Emergency Management shared guidance for New Yorkers that urged anyone experiencing an earthquake to drop to the floor, cover their heads and necks with their arms, and seek additional cover under “a solid piece of furniture or next to an interior wall.” The agency said people should not run out of buildings during an earthquake, and anyone who is already outside should avoid trees and overhead lines.
“Do not get in a doorway as this does not provide protection from falling or flying objects and you likely will not be able to remain standing,” according to additional guidance on the agency website. “Hold on to a sturdy piece of furniture and be prepared to move with it. Stay where you are until the shaking stops.”
The agency recommended that anyone using a wheelchair lock their chair in an inside corner, remove items that aren’t secured to the chair and cover their head with their arms.
