‘A violent shake’: New Jersey earthquake interrupts guitarist

There was an earthquake Friday in Northeast U.S.
It had a magnitude of 4.8; no injuries have been reported
Epicenter according to experts was in Lebanon, New Jersey

Updated: Apr 5, 2024 / 08:19 PM CDT

(NewsNation) — Musician Jared Demel was filming himself playing guitar when an earthquake rattled his practice session.

Demel was staying at his parents’ house in Bridgewater, New Jersey, when the tremor hit. He was visiting from Los Angeles and said he’s pretty used to earthquakes.

“It was a shock. … It was a violent shake for just a 4.8. I just didn’t know what it was. At first, I thought something actually exploded like in the basement. So I was more confused than anything else,” Demel said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.“

Shockwaves were felt far and wide when a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit Lebanon, New Jersey, Friday morning.

More than 120,000 responses poured into the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did You Feel It?” tool. Many of those were reports from densely populated New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.

People more than 200 miles from the epicenter reported feeling the earthquake. It appears to have shaken areas as far south as the D.C. area and as far north as the New York-Canada border. The shaking lasted several seconds.

USGS figures indicate that the quake might have been felt by more than 42 million people.

Alix Martichoux contributed to this report.