NEW YORK — A powerful earthquake shook New York City and the surrounding area Friday morning, alarming residents and causing some buildings to shake

The roughly 4.7 to 4.8 magnitude quake was centered in Lebanon, New Jersey, which is about 50 miles southwest of New York City and 36 miles north of Trenton. It quickly became the talk of the town and on social media, as people asked questions and shared their stories.

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CBS New York heard from witnesses shortly after near Rutgers University in New Brunswick. One woman said it felt like a dream and she started texting her family to make sure everyone was safe.

“I was laying in my bed, and my whole apartment building just started shaking. And I freaked out, I was like, what’s happening? I’ve never felt an earthquake before in my life, so it was very scary,” she said. “My whole bed shook, everything shook.”

Others reported similar experiences around campus.

“I was in my house, and the whole house was shaking. All of my roommates were asleep, we all woke up, like what’s going on? Immediately got calls from our families all over New Jersey, all over New York. Everybody felt it was pretty out-of-the-ordinary,” another woman told Westbrook. “I thought it was wind, it’s been really windy around here, and my windows are very thin.”

“I was standing in my kitchen in my apartment, and I saw the TV shaking. I’ve never felt an earthquake, so it was a little scary, it was a little weird,” said another.

CBS New York also caught up with a group of volunteers at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside. They were packing supplies for a food drive when the warehouse started to shake.

“The ground started shaking, but I was thinking… is there a truck, or is there something going on in the warehouse? Then you could see the pipes in the warehouse shaking and swaying back and forth,” one man said. “It was kind of unreal.”

“I honestly thought it was just a forklift that hit something, because I was on the phone with my partner at work, and he said all of a sudden the building started to shake,” another man added. “I looked around and everyone was freaking out.”

The earthquake was also felt in the Philadelphia area and as far north as Rhode Island and Boston. 

Elijah Westbrook

Elijah Westbrook is an Emmy Award-winning journalist. He joined CBS2 News and CBS News New York in January 2022.