Overnight Earthquake Felt Across Eastern PA

FREEHOLD, NJ – Dozens of Eastern Pennsylvania residents reported feeling a 3.1 magnitude earthquake that originated overnight in New Jersey.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2 a.m. quake was at a depth of 5.0 kilometers, or 3.1 miles, centered in Freehold Township of Monmouth County.

According to the USGS website, more than 6,000 people logged reports saying they felt the earthquake.

Multiple reports from across Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties were made to the USGS. Sixteen people in the Feasterville area reported feeling the quake, as did 13 in Morrisville.

Eleven reports came in from Huntington Valley, more than a half dozen in Philadelphia, and at least three people in Media reported feeling it. In Eastern Pennsylvania, reports of the quake came in from as far as Bethlehem and West Chester. You can see the full map of reports here.

"I was sleeping and it woke me up," Marie Greenberg of North Tinton Falls, NJ told Patch. "I felt myself move and my house shook. I thought a truck or car hit my house. I checked my entire house and looked outside. It was scary."

The Monmouth County County Sheriff's Office reported that the quake was felt throughout Monmouth County and beyond, and was in very close proximity to the 911 Communications Center on Kozloski Road.

That office received 125 calls within a half hour period. There was no interruption of service or damage and no injuries were reported, the sheriff's office said.

The Freehold Police Department told NBC10 that quake felt more like “the floor dropped out” rather than a wavy motion.

Here is where it happened (the orange star) and here is where it was felt – blue indicates that the tremors could be felt, but they were likely weak. Green indicates that they were strong:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not report any tsunami activity off the East Coast.

It's among the region's biggest since a 5.8 earthquake in 2011 was felt up and down the East Coast, and caused damage to hundreds of homes and structures.

Earthquakes happen when there is movement below the Earth's surface on fault lines. They can occur anywhere in the US and usually last less than a minute, according to FEMA.

Also recently in the Mid-Atlantic region, two small earthquakes rumbled the Goochland, Va., area on Nov. 9, 2018, the same region where the 5.8 earthquake in August 2011 originated and caused damage the Washington Monument in Washington DC.

The 5.8-magnitude quake felt by New Jersey on August 23, 2011 alarmed millions along the East Coast. "Tens of millions of people all over the East Coast and southeastern Canada suddenly felt the earth shaking from the largest earthquake in that area since the M5.8 earthquake in 1944 near Cornwall and Massena, New York," the USGS said.

When the Earth stopped shaking, more than 148,000 people reported their experience of the earthquake on the Did You Feel It? website, representing an area occupied by one-third of the U.S. population.

That quake also damaged the National Cathedral and the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington DC, as well as caused minor to major damage to almost 600 residential properties.

With reporting by Tom Davis