New York and New Jersey hit with 2.2 magnitude earthquake
New York experienced a rare earthquake on Friday. A 2.2 magnitude hit just south of Hastings-on-Hudson, a town just north of New York City on the Hudson River, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake happened in the early morning and according to the survey, about 250 people in the area reported feeling the earthquake.
Many people were confused by the quake and took to Twitter to see what was happening. Some people across the river in New Jersey also felt the quake.
While earthquakes in this area are uncommon, they are not unheard of. Between 1737 and 2016, New York has experienced 550 earthquakes, including a 5.9 magnitude in 1944 near the state's border with Canada, according to the Northeast States Emergency Consortium.
Some of these earthquakes caused damage, including one in 2002 in Northern New York that damaged caused damage to chimneys and roads. In 2001, a 2.6 magnitude earthquake occurred beneath Manhattan.
In 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook New York and other areas along the Northeast coast, including Virginia. It was also felt as far west as Ohio, according to CBS New York.
Twitter said that event, which shocked many, spurred about 5,500 Tweets per second, which the company refers to as TPS. "For context, this TPS is more than Osama Bin Laden's death & on par w/ the Japanese quake," Twitter said in a tweet.
Earlier this year, Buffalo experienced a 3.8-magnitude with no significant damage, according to CBS New York.
Earthquakes are most common in the so-called "Ring of Fire" along the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where more than 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur, according to the geological survey. Therefore, California and Alaska are the two states that experience the most earthquakes in the U.S. California's earthquakes cause more damage than quakes in any other state.
Earlier this month, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake was felt in California's Sacramento Valley, according to CBS Sacramento. The quake did cause damage, with one bar owner telling CBS Sacramento "glass was flying" during the shaking.
The geological survey warned the event may have been a foreshock – tremors before another quake – and there was a 6% chance it would be followed by a large earthquake within three days.
