earthquake

Small Earthquake Rattles Berks County

Magnitude 2.2 quake shakes west of Reading, Pennsylvania

What to Know

  • A quake measures at 2.2 magnitude struck in Berks County midday Friday.
  • The quake was centered near Spring Ridge, Pennsylvania.
  • Dozens of people reported feeling the temblor.

A small earthquake rattled Berks County, Pennsylvania, Friday afternoon.

The magnitude-2.2 temblor hit at 12:11 p.m. about 1.4 miles north-northwest of Spring Ridge, which is about 6 miles west of Reading, at a depth of 1.2 miles, the USGS reported.

Dozens of people reported feeling the quake, the USGS said.

The Pennsylvania Geological Survey said that it was a relatively shallow quake and could have been audible. Some people reported hearing a loud bang.

Earthquakes aren't common, but do happen in the northeastern United States. 

Since June, small quakes have been reported in Central Pennsylvania and off the Jersey Shore. And, since 2003 there have been around one dozen earthquakes in the Reading area, the PGS said.

The most memorable earthquake felt in the Philadelphia region over the past decade was the magnitude 5.8 quake that rattled Virginia in 2011. That one was felt throughout the Philadelphia region and beyond.

From 2010 to 2015, however, no quakes over a magnitude of 3 were reported in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, the USGS said.

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