Officials investigate 2 homes possibly damaged by 4.8 magnitude earthquake
New Jersey has experienced more than 50 aftershocks since the April 5 earthquake.
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There are homeowners around New Jersey still dealing with the effects of the April 5 earthquake. Not surprisingly, one homeowner dealing with damage lives in Readington, the epicenter of the quake.
Within the Regency at Readington, an adult housing complex, Rachel Ellentuck inspected her home after the 4.8 magnitude earthquake. She found a new crack in the floor of the basement six to seven feet long.
She was showing her boyfriend the damage that Friday night when they felt their first aftershock, one of the 50-plus aftershocks the region would experience.
RELATED: Dozens of aftershocks strike New Jersey since Friday, USGS says
“I was showing it to him in the basement and that’s when the first really big aftershock hit. It was like two explosions so we came running up the stairs,” Ellentuck says. “The next morning we got out of bed and right when I stepped out of bed I said, ‘Wow it’s happening again.’ It was subtle, but definitely the house was shaking.”
The rumbling was felt across the state. Twenty-five miles away in Berkeley Heights, another home may have been damaged by the earthquake. Fire officials were called to a home along Maple Avenue where a crack in the wall of the basement was discovered. That home had to be evacuated.
Fire Chief James Hopkins says they were looking at the earthquake as a potential cause.
“It’s possible that it contributed to it, but there’s no way to say for certain. It could be hydrostatic issues like moisture in the soil and things like that,” Hopkins says.
That homeowner will be able to return home just as soon as repairs are made.
