Springfield Shaken, Not Stirred by Quake

The 5.9 magnitude earthquake that has rocked the east coast and forced the White House and Pentagon to shut down seems so far to have had little effect on Springfield.

Aside from reports of shaking at homes and businesses, Springfield residents were largely unphased by the earth’s movement.

Springfield Public Safety Director Rich Rosell put up a message on twitter confirming that an earthquake occurred shortly before 2 p.m.

“No reports of damage,” Rosell wrote, adding that the Fire Department is checking buildings to make sure no one was in danger.

Town Hall and other government facilities were not evacuated. In fact, Springfield Township Administrator Anthony Cancro indicated the tremor barely interrupted municipal business.

“We were sitting in a meeting and felt our chairs shake and we ignored it,” Cancro said.  “We got a phone call and heard there was a quake in Virginia, and we said ‘that makes sense.’”

Springfield Office of Emergency Management Coordinator John Cottage said workers in some offices on Morris Ave. were evacuated into their parking lots. Patch columnist Vince Gragnani reported that he could feel the quake from the third floor of his Morris Ave. office building.

“No damage,” Gragnani wrote. “No evacuations. Just some shaking that seemed to last a while. "

Kris Yawnick, the co-owner of Morris Ave. hair cutters Kris’s Family Barbershop said he and his customers felt the quake, but likewise didn't evacuate. He added that no hairstyles were damaged by the tremors. 

According to the United States Geological Survey, the 5.9 magnitude earthquake’s epicenter was near Richmond Virgina and could be felt up and down the east coast.

Springfield residents have reported their experiences on social media, indicating there was more confusion than a sense of impending doom.

"My whole house just shook for a good 10 seconds," Patch contributor and Springfield First Aid Squad crew member Brett Beibelberg wrote on Twitter shortly after the quake. "I've never experienced that before. Was that an earthquake?"

Beibelberg later engaged in a dialogue with Twitter representatives from nearby nuclear power plant Indian Point, who said the facility was not damaged in the quake.

Other Township social media users reported confusion when the shaking started. 

“I thought there was an accident outside of my house,” former Springfield Mayor Ziad Shehady wrote on his Twitter account. “A few doors rattled & a few things fell off shelves then my TweetDeck chirped.”

According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, New Jersey ranks low on the list of states at risk for experiencing an earthquake.

"Earthquake hazards are measured as the likelihood of experiencing earthquake shaking of various intensities," according to FEMA's website. Northern New Jersey is put in a category that's described as "having a hazard shaking of moderate intensity," which could be felt by all and could lead to slight damage.

Southern New Jersey is put in a category described as having "a small probability of experiencing damaging earth­quake effects."

The epicenter of the Virginia quake was located nine miles south of Mineral, VA. The USGS said the earthquake was about a half mile deep in the Earth.

The USGS is asking those who felt the earthquake to fill out an online survey to assist their information gathering.

The Port Authority said flights going into and out of JFK and Newark airports were stopped for a brief period this afternoon while the air traffic control towers were evacuated. Both airports reopened for both incoming and outgoing flights by 3 p.m. Tuesday. LaGuardia Airport was not closed at any time, according to officials.

Some local residents experienced difficulty getting service on their cellphones in the hour after the quake. Phone companies, including T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon, advised their customers to text or e-mail and avoid making calls to cut down on call volume and improve cell service. 

The Governor’s Office released a statement saying no injuries or fatalities have been reported in New Jersey and there are no reports of damage to the state’s infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams, reservoirs, power grids, transit systems and nuclear power plants. 

Trains, buses and light rail are all operating and NJTransit tickets are being cross-honored.