Residents and police gather outside of homes that were structurally damaged and had to be evacuated after New York City and parts of New Jersey experienced a 4.8 magnitude earthquake on April 05, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
New York: UN Security Council diplomats were shaken in their chairs, planes got briefly grounded, and furniture rattled across New York Friday when an earthquake jolted the city that never sleeps.
No one was hurt, though, and New York's iconic skyline remained intact. "I AM FINE," reported the Empire State Building on its X account.
The tremor had a 4.8 magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Near the epicenter in Lebanon, New Jersey, store supervisor Dominika Uniejewska, 50, said "I'm still shaking" after being woken up by the quake.
"I've never experienced such a strong earthquake. I did experience some before, but it was nothing compared to that. The whole house was really shaking. The bed was shaking, the house was making rumbling noises," she said. "I ran to check on my dog. The dog was okay."
In Brooklyn, buildings shook, rattling cupboard doors and fixtures, an AFP correspondent reported. "I'm nervous, I'm shaking. Many people are scared right now," said Brooklyn resident Ana Villagran, 62.
At the United Nations, which has its headquarters in New York, a Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza was temporarily paused after the tremor.
"Is that an earthquake?" said Save the Children representative Janti Soeripto who was speaking at the time. One diplomat joked: "One for the memoirs."
