Officials: 3.1 magnitude earthquake strikes just after 2 a.m. east of Freehold

The United States Geological Survey has confirmed a 3.1 magnitude earthquake struck just after 2 a.m. 1.2 miles SSE of Freehold.

News 12 Staff

Sep 9, 2020, 9:50 AM

Updated 1,526 days ago

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The United States Geological Survey has confirmed a 3.1 magnitude earthquake struck just after 2 a.m. 1.2 miles SSE of Freehold.
News 12 New Jersey Meteorologist James Gregorio says the epicenter is across from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.
News 12 received emails from viewers saying they felt the earthquake in Parlin, Old Bridge, Holmdel, Manalapan, South River and Morganville.
“No reported damage out there and no resources were dispatched to any particular location in the county, but just the calls of folks wanting to know what it was and if it was an emergency,” says Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden.
The National Weather Service says it was felt much in central New Jersey and reportedly Staten Island too.
Earthquakes in New Jersey aren't exactly a common thing. According to earthquaketrack.com, there was a 1.7 magnitude earthquake about three weeks ago near Frenchtown. In June of 2019, a 2.0 magnitude earthquake hit near Brigantine, and about two months before that, a 1.8 magnitude earthquake hit near Clifton.
“It is a very uncommon advance for this particular part of the northeast,” says USGS Geophysicist Robert Sanders. “We have two other magnitude 3.0 or greater events in a 10-mile radius of this event over the past 60 years -- one in 1979 and one in 1992.”
The strongest earthquake with an epicenter in the state was back in August of 1938, when a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit outside of Trenton. Aftershocks continued for the next four days.