An earthquake rattled parts of the New York City region Tuesday morning, sending tremors through communities just north of the city.
The 2.3-magnitude quake struck near Sleepy Hollow, New York, at around 10.15am ET.
The epicenter was located roughly 25 miles north of New York City and about 4.5 miles beneath the surface.
Within minutes, more than 1,000 people reported feeling the shaking, with residents across Westchester County submitting reports to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
New York City Emergency Management said in a statement: ‘Earthquakes of this size are typically minor and rarely cause damage, but some people in nearby areas like the Bronx may have felt brief shaking. No impacts are expected in NYC.’
Sleepy Hollow sits near the Ramapo Fault system, an active fault zone that stretches from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and into New York, which formed hundreds of millions of years ago.
The region experiences small earthquakes periodically, though they rarely cause damage.
The latest tremor also revived memories of the 4.8-magnitude earthquake that struck New Jersey in 2024, which sent shockwaves up and down the East Coast.
An earthquake rattled parts of the New York City region Tuesday morning, sending tremors through communities just north of the city
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said the county’s Department of Emergency Services ‘has not received any reports of operational impacts or damage to infrastructure.’
‘Officials at the former Indian Point site have also reported no impacts to operations and are conducting precautionary site surveys as part of their standard safety protocols,’ Jenkins added.
The region does experience occasional small earthquakes, though they are relatively uncommon.
The Ramapo Fault line is the largest system of cracks in the Northeast, stretching from more than 185 miles through New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
A fault line is a place where there is a long break in the rock that forms the surface of the earth, and where earthquakes are more likely to happen.
It formed at least 300 million years ago, making it much older than California’s 28-million-year-old San Andreas fault.
Tuesday’s earthquake was small, but the Ramapo Fault is capable of a magnitude 6 tremor or higher.
Within minutes, more than 1,000 people reported feeling the shaking, with residents across Westchester County and in the Bronx submitting reports to the US Geological Survey
New Yorkers commented on social media about the seismic activity, with one user saying:’Snow… now an earthquake near Sleepy Hollow? Ok… I think New York has had enough.’
Parts of New York were recently hammered by a winter storm, with some places seeing up to 29 inches.
