Update: Earthquake Jolts New Providence, Area Towns

New Providence and surrounding towns were rattled by tremors from a 5.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred 35 miles northwest of Richmond, VA at 1:51 p.m. today, which was confirmed by the US Geological Survey.

Aftershocks were reported in Virginia about an hour afterward, while Tremors from the quake were felt in New Providence and across the state.

"No reports of any damage, no one injured," Chief of Police Anthony D. Buccelli told Patch in a phone interview this afternoon. "A lot of people felt it; we were inundated with phone calls. It crammed up the phone lines; people weren’t able to use their cell phones for a short time."

There were some businesses in town that chose to evacuate, but no reported damage to any buildings, Buccelli said, who felt the tremors himself.

"I was around quite a few people at the time and everybody looked at everybody, and most people I talked to said it felt like they thought they were getting dizzy themselves," Buccelli said. "It was subtle, but I felt it."

In a phone interview with Fire Chief Ralph Parlapiano, he said the was not "dispatched and never went out on anything. We heard it from the news people, just like everybody else."

As a mechanic at the , Parlapiano said he and others at the Public Works facility felt the tremors.

"Everything was shaking down there," he said. "I actually had a police car on a lift and the car was shaking on the lift."

New Jersey ranks low on the list of states at risk for experiencing an earthquake, according to the Federal Emergency Management Association.

"Earthquake hazards are measured as the likelihood of experiencing earthquake shaking of various intensities," according to FEMA's website. Northern New Jersey is put in a category that's described as "having a hazard shaking of moderate intensity," which could be felt by all and could lead to slight damage.

In Newark and Hoboken, there were reports that multi-story buildings were evacuated after they reportedly swayed from the tremors, while Six Flags in Jackson was closed.

Twelve nuclear power plants in the mid-Atlantic region, including three New Jersey plants in Salem, Hope Creek and Oyster Creek, declared "unusual events," the lowest of four emergency levels. .

The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management is monitoring the effects of the earthquake across the Garden State.  Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police and Director of the State OEM in the Regional Operations Intelligence Center, is keeping updated on developments regarding the earthquake that was centered in Virginia. 

Around New Jersey, The NJOEM has been in constant contact with the Governor's office and other state department and local officials.

In a statement, Gov. Chris Christie's Office confirmed that there are no injuries or fatalities that have been reported and there are no reports of damage to the state’s infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams, reservoirs, power grids, transit systems and nuclear power plants.

Trains, buses and light rail are all operating and NJTransit tickets are being cross-honored, according to the statement.

Roadways, Bridges and tunnels all seem to be intact. Deptford Township in Gloucester County has reports of a gas leak on one street (Craig Drive) and there have been several residential evacuations at that location.  Also, Gloucester County College reported a gas leak in one building that has since been evacuated.  There were no reports of any injuries.  

The seismic activity triggered an "Unusual Event" at Hope Creek and Salem Nuclear plants, but that is a normal response to such an event.  There have been no reports of any damage at either facility. Mobile phone service was unavailable for many users, but preliminary indications are that this disruption was due to an extremely high call volume generated by users. 

As of 3:30 p.m., PSE&G is reporting no operational or safety issues as a result of the quake.

"The state's largest utility has dispatched employees to assess any potential damage to its facilities," according to an email from Karen A. Johnson, Director-PSE&G Communications. "These include electric transmission lines and switching stations, as well as critical natural gas facilities such as metering and regulating stations, and gas transmission lines and mains. There are no customer outages at this time due to the event. Decisions to evacuate any company locations were made on a local basis."

Although aftershocks cannot be ruled out, the distance from the epicenter would indicate that there is need not be a great concern for New Jersey residents. The NJOEM will continue to update the Governor's office and the public on any new developments.

Both Newark airport and JFK Airport in New York were closed temporarily so that runways could be checked for cracks, among other things.

Check out the live blog from Huffington Post for the latest from the Washington D.C. area.