Community Corner

Quake Scares Kids, Employee Keeps Calm At Boonton Coffee Co: VIDEO

Security cameras from a Morris County coffee shop caught the startling moment when a magnitude 4.8 earthquake rolled through New Jersey.

"Am I gonna die?" a little girl cried as she rushed out of the coffee shop. The moment was scary, but the girls were soon back in the coffee shop with their moms.
"Am I gonna die?" a little girl cried as she rushed out of the coffee shop. The moment was scary, but the girls were soon back in the coffee shop with their moms. (Screenshot via a video posted on Twitter by Boonton Coffee Company; used with permission. )

BOONTON, NJ — Friday's earthquake in New Jersey startled many people — include two young girls who were enjoying their morning at the Boonton Coffee Company.

Camera footage from the coffee shop, at 602 Main Street, shows the girls sitting and talking at 10:53 a.m. when the whole room shudders, and cups and silverware start tinkling.

"Was that an earthquake?" one girl asks, as one of the women with them stands up and puts her arms around them both. "Am I gonna die?"

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People begin to leave, grabbing jackets and laptops, and the women usher the girls out of the shop.

"Why is there an earthquake here, Mommy?" the girl asks.

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Meanwhile, the worker at the front counter and several customers seemed unfazed in another video, as people started rushing outside.

"Oh my gosh!" someone cries as the shop rattles, followed by some stronger language.

However, the two people in line seem mostly un-rattled, and the man at the front counter keeps taking latte orders.

The Boonton Coffee Company shared an update later Friday, saying no one was injured — and that the girls and their mothers came back in to relax after the panic, "with happy kiddos and harmony restored."

The magnitude 4.8 earthquake was detected about 10:23 a.m. with an epicenter near Lebanon, New Jersey, according to the United States Geological Survey, which monitors earthquakes.

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