Did You Feel It? Earthquake Rattles Brooklyn

Brooklyn residents got a jolt Tuesday afternoon as a 5.8 earthquake rattled windowpanes, office buildings and plenty of nerves across the city.

The temblor, which hit at 2:04 p.m. and lasted for about 10 seconds, surprised many in a borough used to shaking from city subways, passing trucks and the occasional unruly neighbor—not from Mother Nature herself. 

“I saw the vase pop off the shelf, but I caught it,” said Park Slope resident Alely Manno, who along with her daughter, Alex, ran out of her home on Garfield Street with the family's dog in her arms after the quake hit. “I thought my house was haunted."

The earthquake, with an epicenter more than 300 miles away from Brooklyn near the town of Mineral, Va., was felt across the city and caused the evacuation of office buildings in Downtown Brooklyn, the Financial District and Midtown Manhattan.

"I've never felt an earthquake before and definitely did not think I would feel one in New York," said Bob Sherman, a Manhattan office worker living on Degraw Street in Carroll Gardens. "It was kind of scary but kind of fun."

For others, the scene Monday afternoon was one that was reminiscent of earthquake hotspots like Southern California, not Brooklyn.

"The light bulbs were shaking and swaying. I thought I was dreaming," said Abdul Feda, who was doing construction on the ground floor of a brownstone on Eighth Avenue in Park Slope when the earthquake hit. "We ran outside just to make sure it was real."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there had been no reports of damage to buildings, bridges, roads or power grids as a result of the quake. 

The Indian Point nuclear power plant, located 42 miles north of Manhattan, was operating at full power. No damage was reported at the plant, Cuomo said. 

Kennedy International was shut down after the quake hit. 

Widespread cellphone service disruptions were also reported throughout Brooklyn—an event that reminded at least one resident of another, much-more cataclysmic event that happened almost 10 years ago.

"I remember hitting the send button over and over and not getting through," said Fort Greene resident Pedro Espinoza, recalling the disruption in phone service that accompanied the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. "It brings back bad memories."

William Yakowicz and Clarissa Pharr contributed reporting to this story.