North Jersey towns shake as earthquakes rattles the region

☑️ The earthquake rattled area around Morris Plains at 5:40 a.m.

☑️ A second earthquake was felt near Randolph at 2:26 p.m.

☑️ Earthquakes under a magnitude 3.0 are generally not felt

MORRIS PLAINS — One of two small earthquakes that rattled several Morris County towns was also felt 200 miles away,

The US Geological Survey reported an earthquake at 5:40 a.m. measuring magnitude 1.6 on the Richter scale, with an epicentre along Butterworth Road in Morris Plains. The second measured magnitude 1.3 with an epicentre along Old Brookside Road in Randolph.

Reports about the Morris Plains quake came mostly from Morristown, Denville, Mendham and Flanders. The Randolph quake was felt mostly in Morristown and Succasunna with reports from Chatham, Chester Greystone Park, Ledgewood,

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Why was it felt 200 miles away?

One response to the USGS came from Beach Haven, Beverly and Browns Mills in Burlington County and Hamburg in Sussex County. The farthest report is from Cockeysville, located northwest of Baltimore.

Older, denser rocks in the east that have been exposed to extreme pressures and temperatures allow seismic waves to cross them, according to the USGS easily.

New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said that earthquakes less than a magnitude of 3.0 are rarely felt by humans and cause little damage.

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