Rare earthquake rattles Queens, Roosevelt Island

(NEW YORK) — Residents of Queens were awakened by a rare earthquake in New York City on Tuesday morning.

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake shook the borough of Queens, centered in the neighborhood of Astoria, at about 5:45 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was measured at a depth of 5 km, the USGS said.

There were no reports of injuries or serious damage, but it did reportedly cause some issues on Roosevelt Island, which is located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens.

A few buildings just south of the Roosevelt Island Bridge and Tram were experiencing power outages, Roosevelt Island residents told New York ABC station WABC.

Despite the reports, New York City officials said everything was functioning fine at 11:30 a.m.

“The elevators were out; we walked down. So much commotion going on. No one knew what was going on,” one resident told WABC.

“DOB, FDNY, NYPD, 311, MTA, Con Ed, and National Grid report no injuries, no impacts to transit, traffic, or utility services, and no structural stability issues at this time,” according to NYC Emergency Management.

Although earthquakes are rare in the New York City, a 2.2 magnitude quake shook Westchester County, just north of the city, last May.

The Queens quake was not the only one to shake the East Coast on Tuesday morning.

A 2.3-magnitude quake shook Rockville, Maryland, just northwest of Washington, D.C., at about 1 a.m., according to the USGS. It was measured at a depth of about 15.3 km, the USGS said. No injuries or damage were reported.

“It’s crazy I didn’t know there could be an earthquake in Maryland,” Potomac resident Nathan Sharpe told Washington ABC affiliate WJLA.

 

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