The epicenter of the earthquake was reported about 50 miles west of Manhattan
A 4.8 magnitude earthquake rattled the New York City area on Friday morning in a shocking rare occurrence.
The tremor struck around 10.23am and was felt in Manhattan and beyond.
Its epicenter was in Lebanon, New Jersey, which is about 50 miles west of Manhattan, reported the United States Geological Survey.
The quake was reportedly felt as far as Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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An earthquake struck the greater New York area on Friday morning (Credits: Getty Images)
There were no initial reports of damage to the Fire Department of New York or the New York Police Department, but some sirens sounded.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry stated that his agency was being briefed on the situation.
‘While we do not have any reports of major impacts at this time, we’re still assessing the impact,’ wrote Daughtry on X (Twitter).
The shaking interrupted a United Nations Security Council meeting in the city, video footage shared on X (Twitter) showed.
Airports in various cities on the East Coast airports issued ground stops immediately after the quake.
Earthquakes are rare in New York City.
Many New Yorkers rushed to X (Twitter) to check and confirm they felt the quake. Among them was English singer-songwriter and actress Lily Allen.
‘That was insane,’ wrote Allen, who was in Brooklyn.
The social media site was flooded with posts.
The New York City Hazard Mitigation Plan states: ‘Although New York City does not sit on a major fault system, like the San Andreas in California, earthquakes are possible here.
‘The likelihood that a strong earthquake will occur is moderate, but the risk is heightened by New York City’s population density, the scale of its built environment, the interdependencies of its critical infrastructure systems, the age of its infrastructure, and the high proportion of buildings that were built before seismic design provisions were adopted in City building codes in 1995.’
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