NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The cause of mysterious booms felt on Roosevelt Island—and as far away as Long Island and New Jersey—on Tuesday morning appears to have been a 1.7 magnitude earthquake that hit New York City.
The United States Geological Survey reported the quake hit at a depth of over three miles around 5:45 a.m. in the area of 21st Street and 24th Avenue in Astoria.
The USGS report comes after NYC Emergency Management said it was looking into the possibility a "seismic event" impacted a small area that included parts of Roosevelt Island, Astoria and the Upper East Side. A number of fault lines run underneath the city, including the East River Fault.
A USGS map shows reports from residents as far away as New Jersey, Long Island and the Hudson Valley.
Residents on Roosevelt Island reported hearing booms or explosions before sunrise Tuesday and feeling their buildings shake, but no injuries were reported, according to fire officials.
There were no impacts to transit, traffic or utility services, nor any reports of structural damage to buildings, Emergency Management spokesperson Aries Dela Cruz told the Associated Press.
The FDNY said it received calls about the booms shortly before 6 a.m. in the area of 580 Main St. in the heart of Roosevelt Island.
The source of the booms wasn't immediately clear to first responders—and the cause remained elusive throughout the morning.
After more than an hour of searching for an origin, the FDNY labeled the incident as "no cause" or "undetectable" and the reports unfounded, officials said.
Con Edison, which was also investigating, confirmed that there were no power outages on River Road on Roosevelt Island, as was previously reported, or any other issues for that matter.
The series of booms or "clunks," and related shaking, set social media abuzz with reports from concerned residents.
Astoria resident Matt Lugo told 1010 WINS that he was awakened by the booms.
"I woke up because I felt some sort of shaking, like my whole house was shaking," Lugo said. "It stopped for like five minutes after I woke up. Then it started again for like another five seconds. It felt like two mini shakes—I don't want to say earthquakes—but it definitely felt like the whole ground was shaking. It was very weird."