Six minor earthquakes shook one New Jersey county in a single day — rattling residents as the ground beneath them wouldn’t stay still.
Morris County became the epicenter of hysteria Monday as the series of quakes — ranging from a magnitude 0.7 to 2.0 — rocked the Randolph area five times and nearby Mendham once in the roughly 17-hour span, according to the US Geological Survey.
“There was just this loud boom,” one resident recalled to News 12 New Jersey.
“It wasn’t a tree hit, it was a loud boom.”
The seismic activity kicked off with a 1.6 magnitude quake at 5:40 a.m., followed hours later by a 1.3 magnitude tremor at 2:26 p.m., according to the USGS.
A 0.7 magnitude earthquake then shook Mendham at 5:51 p.m., before the Randolph area was hit by back-to-back tremors — a 1.2 at 8:19 p.m. and a stronger 2.0 at 9 p.m.
“The couch basically jumped while I was watching TV,” another homeowner told the outlet.
“When the dog reacts I always feel like there’s something going on.”
The tectonic activity ended at 11:25 p.m. with a 1.1 magnitude quake, data showed.
The string of tremors resulted in the Morris County Office of Emergency Management fielding dozens of 911 calls from startled residents, director Jeff Paul told News 12.
“We do have that fault line that runs through Ramapo in Jersey so it’s not necessarily completely unusual that this has occurred,” Paul said.
“Luckily it’s classified as minor in nature at this point and everybody is safe and sound and no damage reported.”
The Garden State is home to the Ramapo Fault.
