Earthquake Rattles MA After Magnitude 4.8 Temblor In NJ

MASSACHUSETTS — An earthquake Friday morning in central New Jersey sent shockwaves across New England, according to the National Weather Service.

The magnitude 4.8 near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, struck at about 10:25 a.m. Shortly after, the shockwaves rolled across all of Massachusetts, from the New York border to Boston.

"We have received several reports of an earthquake felt here in southern New England around 10:25am. Preliminary reports from the @USGS indicate a M4.8 earthquake was recorded in north-central NJ," the National Weather Service in Boston tweeted.

Residents in towns from Bellingham to Pittsfield, Worcester, Quincy and Cambridge have all reported shaking. Even residents in far northern Maine and Vermont reported shaking. If you felt shaking in Massachusetts, report it to the U.S. Geological Survey here.

The USGS downgraded the initial 4.8 rating to a 4.7, but then changed it back to 4.8 just before 11 a.m. Earthquake ratings typically go through multiple revisions as seismologists review data.

This isn't the first earthquake in the area recently. A magnitude 1.8 struck near Ledyard in southeastern Connecticut last week. A magnitude 2.7 struck New Hampshire in December followed by a magnitude 2 in early January. By comparison, the famous East Coast earthquake centered in Virginia in 2011 was a magnitude 5.8. The last relatively serious earthquake to hit Massachusetts was in 2020 when a magnitude 4.0 struck in Buzzards Bay.

The largest known earthquakes in New England history happened in 1638 when a magnitude 6.5 hit somewhere in either Vermont or New Hampshire, and a magnitude 5.8 in 1755 off Cape Ann, according to the USGS.