LANSDALE — Local officials said there was little impact from Friday’s earthquake, but people on social media talked about the shaking feeling.
Officials in Hatfield and Upper Gwynedd said they didn't feel anything, and Montgomery Township police Chief Scott Bendig said there was no damage but they received several calls from residents asking what had happened.
Lansdale police Chief Mike Trail mentioned that his department didn't receive any calls or have any issues, and asked residents not to call 911 unless they saw significant damage or injury; borough manager John Ernst added that “I had a picture on my bookcase fall over, but that’s about it.”
In North Wales, borough staff “felt a small rumble” in that town’s borough hall on School Street, according to assistant manager Alex Turock, and in Towamencin, police Chief Tim Troxel said he and his officers saw “ceiling tiles and vents rattling around a bit” at their Troxel Road station.
North Penn School District schools reported “everything is operating normally,” a district spokesperson said Friday morning.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the 4.8 magnitude earthquake northeast of Lebanon, New Jersey, in Hunterdon County just after 10:20 a.m. Friday, roughly 50 miles from Allentown, according to reporting from The Morning Call and The Associated Press.
Local readers also gave mixed reports: readers reported feeling the quake in Montgomeryville, and in Harleysville, not noticing anything in Lansdale, and not feeling it in Towamencin. The reaction was similar to an earthquake centered in Virginia that was felt in the Lansdale area in 2011. County officials said they would have more information available on the regional impact of the quake later Friday afternoon.
