residents, along with thousands of East Coast residents, were shaken up on Tuesday afternoon, many for the first time in their lives, by a not too common earthquake that had its epicenter in Virginia.
At about 2 p.m., most residents felt the earth move under their feet for a few seconds.CliftonJournal's editorial staff felt the quake at it's office on Allwood Road. Several seconds after the slight quake, visitors to the Social Security offices on the third floor of the 935 Allwood Road building where the newspaper's office is located, were evacuated.
"I was with a woman in Social Security," saidCliftonresident Bianca Voss, 66, "and the computers on the desk started shaking. I felt nervous and the (Social Security) lady told me I should go down. I called my job inHackensackand my [coworker] said she couldn't speak because she was evacuating the building. I've never felt anything like that before."
CliftonPolice Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken said he was not aware of any injuries, emergency calls or official evacuations that occurred as a result of the earthquake.
TheCliftonFire Department also did not respond to any earthquake-related calls, ambulance or otherwise, said Deputy Fire Chief Brian Mulligan.
"I was in Social Security [on the third floor]," saidBellevilleresident Raj Patel, 64. "I once felt an earthquake a long time ago when I was in Africa. It was smaller. This one made me a little more nervous, so I came down."
"We just had a patient leave," saidHaledonresident Elaine Valezuela, a secretary for Diamond Braces on Allwood Road inClifton. "We felt the building shaking and we went straight outside. We're nervous. [Dr. Michael Duong] said he felt dizzy."
"I called home right away to check on my kids," said Keyla Abdullah, who lives inElmwood Parkand works as a dental assistant at Diamond Braces inClifton. "My kids said they felt it; they're fine.
I've never felt anything like that. It made me nervous."
"I didn't really feel it," said Mayor James Anzaldi the next day. He said he was on Main Avenue when the earthquake occurred. "I know people felt it in City Hall.
The only reason I knew was because I heard people at St. Mary's Hospital inPassaicfelt it."
Gov. Chris Christie's office released a statement shortly after the quake announcing there had been no injuries or fatalities and that there was no damage to the New Jersey's infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams, reservoirs, power grids, transit systems and nuclear power plants.
The Virginia earthquake which occurred at 1:51 p.m. near Louisa, Va. and Mineral, Va., was a magnitude 5.8 according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The strongest recorded earthquake in Virginia was a magnitude 5.9 in 1897. The strongest earthquake recorded on the East Coast was a magnitude 7.3 in South Carolina in 1886.
The quake did cause damage in Virginia, the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. and the immediate area.
Residents may not know it, butCliftonis no stranger to earthquake activity.
A minor 2.1 magnitude earthquake struck the area surrounding Huemmer Terrace at 6:30 p.m. on Christmas night in 2010, according to the USGS.
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