(NewsNation) — After a 4.8 magnitude earthquake, felt by 42 million, rattled New York City and parts of the Northeast on Friday, the region may experience more aftershocks, a Yale University professor says.
Jeffrey Park, a professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale, told “NewsNation Now” Friday the chances of residents experiencing aftershocks from Friday’s earthquake are possible but small. Reports later emerged of some New Jersey residents feeling small aftershocks in the hours after Friday’s quake.
Park said that had Friday’s earthquake been centered in New York City, much more damage would have occurred, along with possible injuries. However, as residents who were caught off-guard by Friday’s earthquake move on, Park warned that they may not be completely done with possible disturbances.
“You could probably have aftershocks now, and probably, there are aftershocks that could occur over the next few days and the next few weeks,” Park said.
Park said aftershocks are typically smaller than the earthquake itself, but it is possible that they could be as large or larger, although that is unlikely.
“With earthquakes of this kind on the East Coast, there typically aren’t a lot of aftershocks, unlike the earthquakes that would occur along in very active fault lines in the Western United States,” Park said.
