A 2.2-magnitude earthquake struck parts of New York and New Jersey early Friday morning, the US Geological Survey said.

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CNN –

The US Geological Survey told CNN that residents felt a 2.2-magnitude earthquake in parts of New York and New Jersey early Friday morning.

The quake occurred at 2 a.m. around northwest Yonkers and along the Hudson River in New York, and was felt in New Jersey, according to Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist at the USGS National Information Center in Golden, Colorado.

Baldwin said the USGS has received 200 alerts on its website from people who felt the quake, most of them reported within a 15-mile radius of the epicenter.

“It’s very common — you might have several earthquakes a month, a few in random locations,” Baldwin said.

The Yonkers Fire Commissioner’s Office confirmed that although the transmission did receive some calls, it was largely due to noise, with one caller calling an alleged switch. A Yonkers Fire Department spokesperson confirmed that personnel were dispatched to the area but found no injuries. Hastings Fire Minister Jane Scheneppe told CNN there were no calls in Hastings-on-Hudson.

Baldwin said the quake, which Baldwin said lasted only briefly, was likely felt because most residents had been indoors overnight at that hour. Most of the earthquakes in the Northeast are minor, Baldwin said, adding that the largest earthquake in the past three months was the 3.8-magnitude Buffalo quake on Feb. 6.

“You probably won’t see damage until you’re in the 4-degree range,” Baldwin said. “The Buffalo earthquake was in the D.C. area. If there was damage, it would be something falling out of a refrigerator.”

Earthquakes in the northeastern United States are difficult to predict because of their magnitude and can occur randomly, Baldwin said. It is rare, he said, in densely populated areas in the northeast.

“You might go a few weeks without seeing any of it, and then you might see it for a few weeks,” he said. “Fault lines are usually not marked – they are underground and just happen.”

In the past six months, Baldwin said, the USGS has identified nearly 100 “mostly small” earthquakes in the northeastern United States. These extend as far as Canada, through Quebec and into the Nova Scotia region, Baldwin said.

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