No Damage in Madison, Utilities Secure After Quake

The earthquake that rocked cities from Washington to Toronto today  was felt in Madison, but had little lasting effect.

Borough officials reported no injuries or property damage. All pump stations, well heads and associated buildings were inspected by the Department of Public Works staff found to be secure. The Electric Utility maintained power throughout the temblor.

The earthquake had a reported magnitude of 5.8 and an epicenter in Virginia.

Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden was in Hartley Dodge Memorial when the earthquake struck.

"I was standing in the borough engineer (Robert Vogel's) office and he said, "Is that an earthquake?" I stood still and looked out the window and sure enough, HDM was swaying. It lasted a long time. (I had been in one about 26 yrs ago. That one was louder and more violent -- but I was closer to its epicenter then) This felt like one of those old rides at a funhouse where the ramp goes up and down while you're trying to walk across it."

Resident Dave Carver was two hours west at his office in Pennsylvania. "I was sitting in a meeting when the room started shaking. Everyone looked around, like, "What is going on?" It stopped, and we all went back to work. It was the first time I ever experienced an earthquake. it was a bit strange, but not a major event here."

Bob Landrigan, volunteer coordinator of the borough's Office of Emergency Response, said that the system for handling events such as an earthquake worked perfectly.

"I got an email from the Morris County OEM notifying me of the earthquake," he said. Despite cell phone connection issues due to heavy use, Landrigan got through to the police department, confirming there was no damage or injuries in the borough, and ensuring that the police and fire departments were on alert.

The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management said in a statement it is monitoring the effects of the earthquake across the state.

Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police and Director of the State OEM in the Regional Operations Intelligence Center, is keeping updated on developments regarding the earthquake, according to the statement.

The statement also said the NJOEM has been in constant contact with the governor's office and other state department and local officials.

The NJOEM said at this time there are very few reports of damage to any infrastructure in the state, as roadways, bridges and tunnels all seem to be intact.

The office said there were no reports of any injuries and that the seismic activity triggered an "unusual event" at Hope Creek and Salem Nuclear plants, but that is a normal response to such an event. There have been no reports of any damage at either facility.

PSE&G also said at this time it is reporting no operational or safety issues as a result of the earthquake. The company said it has dispatched employees to assess any potential damage to its facilities, including electric transmission lines and switching stations, as well as critical natural gas facilities such as metering and regulating stations, and gas transmission lines and mains.

PSE&G said there are no customer outages at this time due to the event and that decisions to evacuate any company locations were made on a local basis.

Mobile phone service was unavailable for many users, but preliminary indications are that this disruption was due to an extremely high call volume generated by users.

The office said although aftershocks cannot be ruled out, the distance from the epicenter would indicate that there is no need of great concern for New Jersey residents. The NJOEM said it will continue to update the governor's office and the public on any new developments.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service's website, "The U.S. Geological Survey reports a preliminary magnitude 5.8 earthquake was felt across much of the Mid-Atlantic region Tuesday afternoon at 151 PM EDT. The epicenter was located approximately 34 miles northwest of Richmond Virgina or 87 miles southwest of Washington DC."

The , Denville and Kinnelon Police Departments were some of the departments which issued alerts through Nixle stating the quake was felt in their towns.

Did you feel the earthquake? Tell us in the comments if you did and what your experience was like.