A 4.8 magnitude earthquake sent people into the streets in Doylestown Borough Friday morning as homes briefly, but strongly, shook just before 10:30 a.m.
The highly unusual event was centered in Hunterdon County, N.J., west of New York City, according to the USGS.
“My adult children are here visiting and they live in California. It was the first earthquake they experienced,” said Beth Woodhead, who lives in the borough.
Several people said at first they thought it was their washing machine off-balance, but quickly realized the machines weren’t on.
“All my windows sounded like they were falling out,” said Roz Marshall, a borough resident.
Another borough resident said he “felt a side-to-side shake that I could tell involved the whole house. It was a small rumble but less than I would have expected…I thought maybe a car hit the house but I heard no bang,” said Dave Owings.
“I walked around the house looking for what might have caused the shake but saw nothing. Went back to bed to watch the rest of the news and they broke in to say there had been a small earthquake.”
The earthquake prompted some to pick up the phone: “We had a surge of 911 calls – ‘did that just happen’ – sort of thing,” said Bucks County spokesman Jim O’Malley. No damage was reported, he noted.
The Central Bucks School District told parents its operations team is surveying all buildings and all normal school activities are continuing.
Officials in the Neshaminy School District notified families that all its buildings were checked and no damage was found.
The Pennsbury School District also reported no damage, telling families school would continue as usual.
More than 23 million felt the quake, authorities reported Friday morning. Officials also warned of aftershocks.
The earthquake was shallow, USGS officials said, which is why it was felt by so many.
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