It was much like any other normal day in New Jersey on the 5th of April… until unexpectedly at approximately 10:23 AM an Earthquake shook all of New Jersey, leaving many in shock, excitement, confusion, and fear. This begs the question… Why on Earth was there a relatively massive earthquake in New Jersey of all places? No pun intended.

Centered somewhere between Tewksbury, Lebanon, and Whitehouse Station in Hunterdon County NJ, this massive earthquake shook all of New Jersey, and reportedly could be felt all over the Northeast! This earthquake simply was incredibly powerful, especially for an area that never has them. So what gives?

Believe it or not, but earthquakes don’t only happen at the borders between two tectonic plates, they simply happen far more often there. According to the British Geological Survey, “An earthquake is the sudden release of strain energy in the Earth’s crust, resulting in waves of shaking that radiate outwards from the earthquake source.” Note how the BGS doesn’t specifically mention tectonic plates in regard to earthquakes.

The reason we experienced earthquakes here in New Jersey is not because of tectonic plates, but rather because of fault lines. New Jersey has one of the oldest fault zones in the entire United States, known as the Ramapo fault line, located between the northern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont areas to the east, it spans more than 185 miles! It was likely formed in a tectonic collision hundreds of millions of years ago, the same tectonic collision that created the Appalachian Mountains in the first place.

Fault lines are simply put, gargantuan cracks and fractures in the Earth’s crust that form from tectonic plate’s movement causing immense pressure in the area. The reason they cause earthquakes, however, is because of rocks deep underground suddenly breaking; causing rapid motion underground to shake the fault, causing an earthquake (Michigan Technological University). Thankfully, New Jersey is in a relatively geologically calm area, meaning that you don’t have to worry about another Earthquake happening on a weekly basis, unlike places that are right on the boundary of a different tectonic plate.

In conclusion, the earthquake that rattled the state of New Jersey is nothing to fret about, merely a unique experience that we will never forget and be able to recall when another earthquake forms from the Ramapo fault system many years from now.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the earthquake occurred in Hudson County, not Hunterdon County. This mistake has been corrected, and the new version of the article is above.