Delaware was shaken up by an earthquake Wednesday morning that rattled some homes in New Jersey too!!
The tremor hit at 9:44 a.m. weighing in on the Richter scale at a 2.8 magnitude, according to Associated Press. A quake of that level means people could feel the quake, but did not experience any severe damages from it.
The United States Geological Survey’s Web site located the start of the earth quake around two miles from Pennsville, N.J., after reports originally placed its epicenter in Wilmington by the Delaware River.
Its epicenter spread out about three miles deep making it approximately 30 miles away from Philadelphia.
USGS’s web site says that while earthquakes in the western states tend to be less frequent; they do cover a “much broader region” as seen in this case.
People described the small earthquake to Philadelphia news stations as the explosion that burst in June at Sunoco’s Marcus Hook oil refinery.
City officials from eight different towns began answering around 150 phone calls from concerned citizens that felt the shake.
The Office of Emergency Management collaborated with the police and city officials urgently investigating the tremors to guarantee no explosions or terroristic activity could have been linked to the tremors.
It didn’t take long for officials to confirm the earthquake at 10:30 a.m.
Deputy County Administrator Weinstein said in the news release “county residents were notified and informed that no protective actions were required” via its reverse 911 system.
The engineering department has immediately gone to work checking the cities roads and bridges to make certain the have upheld “their structural integrity.”
“We are not expecting any problems; however safety is our paramount objective,” Bruce Bobbitt, Chair of the County Public Works Committee said to local press
Injuries or damages have not been reported at this time.
Fox 29’s meteorologist David Aldrich notes that Salem County’s last earthquake registered a 3.8 magnitude on the Richter scale on Feb. 28, 1973.
Our Take:
It is a relief to know that no injuries or damages have been called in yet. Earthquakes can be scary even if they are very mild tremors. When the house starts rattling, you can’t help but worry a little. Thankfully, no one was injured, and, hopefully, the eight cities affected will have completed their road inspections and guarantee their safety soon.
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