Deep in the soil of northwestern New Jersey is a 185-mile-long stretch of a fault, which triggered the magnitude 4.8 earthquake that shook New York City on Friday, experts told DailyMail.com.
The “epicenter” lies on the Ramapo Fault, the longest rift system in the Northeast, which formed 400 million years ago, much older than California’s 28-million-year-old San Andreas Fault.
But the fault also caused a small earthquake near the epicenter last month.
The system stretches from upstate New York, through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, and experts have long believed it has the potential to produce a major seismic event.
Kenneth Miller, a professor at Rutgers University, confirmed to DailyMail.com that the Ramapo Fault was “certainly what caused Friday’s earthquake,” although there was no indication that a magnitude 6 to 7 earthquake would have been devastating to the northeast. .
The “epicenter” of Friday’s earthquake is on the Ramapo Fault, the longest rift system in the Northeast, which formed 400 million years ago, much older than California’s 28-million-year-old San Andreas. .
While Friday’s earthquake was “mild,” another that hit Taiwan on Wednesday was deadly.
The magnitude 7.2 earthquake triggered huge landslides, tilted angles in the mountains and killed at least nine people, while more than 900 were injured.
‘An earthquake of magnitude 6 to 7 is possible [for New Jersey]but it seems very unlikely, Miller said, while explaining that the Ramapo fault line does not trigger anything above a magnitude of 3 on average.
The system, however, It produced a rare inland-related seismic event, accounting for less than 10 percent of the natural disasters that hit our planet each year.
An intraplate earthquake occurs within the interior of the tectonic plate, while most others hit the tectonic plate boundary.
“The U.S. Geological Survey rated the earthquake at a magnitude of 4.7 or 4.8, which is enough to shake walls but generally does not cause serious damage,” Miller said.
“The earthquake occurred on the Ramapo boundary fault at an estimated depth of 4.35 miles with the epicenter near Lebanon.”
A fault is a place where there is a long break in the rock that makes up the Earth’s surface and where earthquakes are most likely to occur.
Dr. J. Bret Bennington of Hofstra University on Long Island also named the Ramapo bug as the culprit.
The system stretches from upstate New York, through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, and experts have long believed it has the potential to produce a major seismic event.
“It’s possible that a little bit of that stress energy along that fault was released and we had a mild earthquake,” Bennington shared in a video shared on TikTok.
The earthquake was the strongest to occur in New Jersey since 1738, when locals experienced a magnitude of 5.3.
New Jersey’s last significant earthquake was a magnitude 2.3 on August 30, 2022, in the White Meadow Lake section of Rockaway Township in Morris County, also along the Ramapo Fault.
But Hunterdon County felt a smaller magnitude of 2.2 just last month, on March 15, 2.5 miles northeast of Whitehouse Station.
An evaluation from Michigan Technological University showed that people typically do not feel earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 or less.
Those from 2.5 to 5.4 are often felt but cause only minor damage.
And buildings and other structures can take damage when it hits between 5.5 and 6.0.
“New Jersey building codes are not designed for true earthquakes,” Miller said.
“Any tall building could withstand a magnitude of 6, but a 7 would be a concern.”
Miller explained that the Ramapo Fault was created when continents began to come together hundreds of millions of years ago.
‘[The system] “It was reactivated 200 million years ago, causing a movement of about four kilometers,” he explained.
“Then it stopped about 198 million years ago, when the Atlantic Ocean formed.
The fault link continued with activity, but has since slowed to minor movements.
Miller said a minor magnitude 2 aftershock was felt in Bedminster around 12 p.m. ET, and there could be more to follow that “nobody will notice.”
