For a region generally unaccustomed to earthquakes, it was almost immediately clear what was happening Friday as the tremor that struck New Jersey reverberated through homes and businesses.
Social media streamers and security cameras were there to capture the shaking and rattling in real time:
“Oh my god, an earthquake!”
The 4.8-magnitude quake centered in Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County, near communities like Califon, Lebanon and Whitehouse Station disturbed the morning routines of man and beast.
For several seconds, surveillance systems’ scenes seemed to shimmy and shimmer during the initial quake, which was followed throughout the day and night by numerous aftershocks.
Across the Garden State, our own private version of Big Brother was watching.
Alarmed people wondered if it really was an earthquake, and what they should do. The advice of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is to “Drop, Cover and Hold On!”; avoid damaged structures; and if in a damaged building, go outside and move away from it.
Water swayed, stress levels skyrocketed. “It sounded like a bomb,” the owner of an antique store in the Oldwick section of Tewksbury said.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported and very little damage was evident after the earthquake shook the Northeast corridor from Maryland to Massachusetts.
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