USGS confirms magnitude 2.4 earthquake in Bergen County

The magnitude 2.4 earthquake was centered near Paramus, according to the USGS, and occurred around 1 p.m.

News 12 Staff

Jan 24, 2025, 6:50 PM

Updated 2 hr ago

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The United States Geological Survey confirms an earthquake happened in New Jersey Friday afternoon.
The magnitude 2.4 earthquake was centered near Paramus, according to the USGS, and occurred around 1 p.m. It comes more than nine months after a magnitude 4.8 earthquake shook Tewksbury Township and surrounding areas.
News 12 spoke to some Paramus residents about what they felt after the quake.
"Just a rumbling like a tractor-trailer coming down the street, and then I'm thinking, ‘Oh my God, did something fall in the house? Did a giant ice sheet just come flying off the roof?’ But it was enough to be very noticeable, and think something was very wrong,” said one resident.
"They were doing construction next door to me over the summer, and when they dropped the two-by-fours, the house shook in the same manner. But there was nothing around that fell,” said another resident.
News 12 also spoke to a geology expert about the situation.
"The Earth does what it wants to do. We can't stop the continental drift, the movement of these giant plates. The Atlantic Ocean is getting wider, the Pacific Ocean is getting narrower, by about the same speed that your fingernails or toenails grow,” said geotechnical engineer Bill Kroth.
The Bergen County Office of Emergency Management tells News 12 that there were no reports of serious damage or injuries.
MORE: Interview with Dr. Thomas Pratt, research geophysicist with USGS
Officials say that aftershocks can occur, but it is important to note that they are usually smaller and weaker than the original earthquake.