Residents of the Butler and Bloomingdale areas of Morris County felt a slight rumbling Thursday evening as a very weak earthquake hit the area around 8 p.m.

At about 8:50 p.m. Butler Police posted to their Facebook Page saying they were investigating reports of "a loud noise that was heard throughout the borough." An hour later, police and the United States Geological survey confirmed that the rumble was a small earthquake.

NJ Advance Media reported that the epicenter of the 1.6-magnitude quake was about a half-mile from Butler, according to Jessica Turner, a geophysicist for the USGS based in Golden, Co. Turner told the website that earthquakes that register below a 2.0 generally go unnoticed.

No damage or other incidents were reported as a result of the quake, although some residents of Butler who posted on the Police Department's Facebook page reported feeling their houses shake and their pets acting out when the rumbling occurred.

The cause of the noise was an earthquake

Posted by Butler Police Department on Thursday, February 18, 2016

Toniann Antonelli is the digital managing editor for news at NJ 101.5. Reach her at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.

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