OCEAN COUNTY – Did you feel it? Residents in Southern Ocean County are stating they felt what they thought was possibly an earthquake yesterday.
Those living in Holgate, which is located at the most southern part of Long Beach Island past Beach Haven, posted online how they felt a “small earthquake.”
South Jersey was “shaken up” not that long ago, when an earthquake hit the Jersey Shore this past summer. A magnitude 2.4 quake had struck just south of Tuckerton in June. Since the quake was relatively shallow, at a depth of just over 3 miles, no injuries or damages were reported.
Yesterday’s possible earthquake would be the fifth quake within a span of 18 months in New Jersey.
However, no official reports have been published yet confirming any earthquakes or sonic booms in the Garden State region.
In addition, the National Weather Service’s regional forecast office in Mount Holly said there was no evidence of any isolated thunderstorms in the area.
“We’ve heard the many reports of a loud boom or shaking sound in portions of southern New Jersey this afternoon. (The U.S. Geological Survey) does not indicate any seismic activity, and as far as we are aware, it was not of meteorological origin,” NWS Mount Holly said in a Tweet.
Police in Egg Harbor Township did not report any shaking and said they received no calls regarding the mysterious incident.
Residents online questioned whether the “shake” could have been military jets flying off the Jersey Shore, as there is a nearby naval air station in Maryland. The Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland confirmed that their military jets were not traveling fast enough to create a sonic boom.
Ocean and Monmouth County Residents are used to hearing loud booms and feeling shakes from training that occurs at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. According to their monthly noise calendar, the base labeled February 8 as “moderate noise.” At this time, it has not been confirmed whether the “shaking” was a result of their training.
