Quake Rattles Buildings and Nerves In NJ

An East Coast earthquake Tuesday rattled buildings and nerves across New Jersey — from office complexes to the state's crowded beaches — disrupting mass transit, jamming cell phone networks and prompting many employees to temporarily evacuate their workplaces but apparently leaving all roads, bridges and tunnels intact.

No damage was reported at the state's four nuclear power plants, including the nation's oldest reactor, Oyster Creek in Lacey Township. They remained online during inspections after they were classified as having "unusual events."

Gov. Chris Christie was at the state-owned governor's beach house on Long Beach Island when the quake hit just after 2 p.m. He issued a statement two hours later saying the state appeared to be unscathed.

"No injuries or fatalities have been reported and there are no reports of damage to the state's infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams, reservoirs, power grids, transit systems and nuclear power plants," he said late Tuesday afternoon.

The magnitude 5.8 earthquake, one of the strongest ever registered on the East coast, was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va. New Jersey residents reported floors wobbling, lights swinging and even store mannequins moving eerily as if they were alive.

In Trenton, Kelly Warboys, who is seven months pregnant, didn't wait to be told to leave her seventh-floor office, where she joined about 100 state employees gathered on the sidewalk.

In nearby Ewing, the New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company voluntarily evacuated for about 15 minutes after the building trembled. In a scene that played out at workplaces around the state, employees spun around in chairs to see if they alone had experienced something unusual. "You just looked around the room to see if everyone else felt what you did," said spokesman Pat Breslin.

Many New Jerseyans were befuddled at first, having never experienced an earthquake.

Eleven-year-old Talia Higgins was eating lunch at home in Haddonfield when the ground began to shake in the town outside of Philadelphia. "At first, I was thinking one of my cats was under the table," she said. "Then I looked outside and saw the car shaking."

Her mother, Sima Higgins, 41, at first figured it was a truck going by but quickly began to suspect it was something more powerful. When she first turned on the television, there weren't news reports yet. Phone lines were so busy it took four or five tries to reach her husband at work in Philadelphia. When she did reach him, and heard that he'd felt it, too, she knew it was a quake.

Cheryl Alexander was shopping at Bloomingdale's in Hackensack when the quake struck and managers started ushering customers out of the store.

"The mannequins were definitely moving — it was bizarre. I actually thought they were coming to life," she told The Record of Woodland Park.

At Sea Isle City in southern New Jersey, beachgoers rose from their chairs after the tremors, with many either reaching for their cell phones or heading to lifeguard stations to find out what just happened.

Lee Gates, 68, of Tabernacle, was sitting in her chair at the water's edge when the quake hit. "I put my oxygen (nose hose) on because I thought I was having a spasm," she said.

Janet Gates, 45, of Medford, was in on the second floor of her oceanfront condo when the house shook.

"It was back and forth like a funhouse effect," she said.

Newark Liberty International Airport was briefly shut down, along with the New York area's other major airports, as control towers were evacuated. But planes were taking off and landing again by about 3 p.m. across the region.

The PATCO Hi-Speedline suspended service for about two hours between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey but the trains were back in operation in time for the thick of rush hour.

NJ Transit put a short hold on its trains while it checked out its system before resuming operations.

Many had trouble making or receiving cell phone calls and text messages immediately after the quake, but the delays were largely attributed to volume, not network disruptions.

Those in tall buildings found the quake most unnerving. Ed Kasuba, a spokesman for the Delaware River Port Authority, was in his office on the ninth floor of One Port Center in Camden when the shaking started.

He's used to the building swaying a bit when there are strong winds, but he knew right away this was different. "It felt like the floor was falling," he said.

At the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, chief executive Dennis Gomes said many customers hurried outside when the building swayed.

"Our 14th floor was swaying back and forth like a swing," Gomes told The Press of Atlantic City. "It was the scariest thing I've ever felt."