Early Morning Earthquake Rattles NJ, Did You Feel It?

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A small earthquake potentially startled some early risers in Morris County Thursday morning, according to a report from the United States Geological Survey.

Just after 5:30 a.m., a magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck roughly three miles southeast of Randolph, experts say. It took place roughly six miles underground, the report adds.

Earthquakes with magnitudes under 2.0, which are classified as “micro” earthquakes, are not often felt on the surface. Earthquakes with a magnitude between 2.0 and 2.9 are referred to as "minor" earthquakes and are more likely to be felt by people.

So far, nobody has reported feeling Thursday morning's microquake to the USGS. If you felt it, you can report it online here.

The last earthquake to shake New Jersey was also in Morris County, a 1.1-magnitude quake near Chester. Thursday is the ninth earthquake New Jersey has seen this year.

Multiple earthquakes have been reported recently in the Central and North Jersey area. Last year, six earthquakes struck North Jersey in 24 hours, five of them around Randolph.

Earthquakes are less common on the eastern than on the western edges of the United States because the East Coast does not lie on a boundary of tectonic plates.

However, the earthquakes that have been happening in recent months in New Jersey have been linked to a previously unmapped fault line in the New Jersey Highlands, according to a recently published study.

The study of the 2024 magnitude 4.8 earthquake near Tewksbury says the event likely ruptured a previously unmapped fault, now designated as the Mountainville Fault.

The paper, first published Aug. 11, examined the source of the earthquake by combining aftershock data, field mapping, friction experiments, and stress analysis in the wake of the April 5, 2024, earthquake and several aftershocks that rocked the East Coast, federal officials said.

Read more: NJ Earthquakes Caused By Newly Discovered Faultline