Quakes Shake Putnam

Area residents felt the earth shake twice in one week, with a 3.0 magnitude earthquake reported along the Ramapo fault near Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., on Aug. 2, which then gave off an aftershock three days later.

On social media, Susan Andrews said she felt the initial tremor in Mahopac, and Elsa Silva said she felt it in Brewster at about 10:40 p.m.

On Aug. 5 at around noon, a 2.7 magnitude aftershock was reported near Hillsdale, N.J.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, while the quake was felt throughout the tri-state area, no initial reports of damage or injury were reported.

“Heard it in Brewster, my son felt it upstairs weird,” wrote Kathleen Sanchioli on social media.

Miriam Ruza in Cold Spring and Alice Daly in Mahopac also reported feeling it.

“From the work done by geologists at Rutgers, we can say it seemed likely that both of those were coming off at depth off of the border fault,” Rutgers University Seismologist Ken Miller told News12 New Jersey. “The border fault runs to the west in a northeast-southwest fashion, and it runs right near Tewksbury, where the big earthquake was in 2024.”

More aftershocks are likely over the next week or two, he said.