Freehold Residents Feel Tremors From Virginia Earthquake

The Monmouth County 911 Communications Center fielded a high volume of emergency calls following an earthquake Tuesday, according to Cynthia Scott, public information officer for the county sheriff’s office.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured a 5.9-magnitude quake centered in Mineral, Va. shortly before 2 p.m.

Some Freehold residents experienced the effects of the earthquake, while others did not realize a geological event had occurred.

"I am in Freehold and felt everything shaking, and shaking pretty vigorously," Freehold Patch user Dave Kapulsky .

Freehold Township High School head football coach Mike D’Antonio said the Patriots were on the field when the earthquake hit but no one knew an earthquake had taken place.

“We didn’t feel a thing. People were telling us after the (scrimmage) game,” D’Antonio said. “Obviously, it was pretty bad. Hopefully nobody got hurt.”

The Hall of Records Building and Monmouth County Courthouse, both in Freehold Borough, and the Monmouth County Human Services building in Freehold Township were evacuated for a half-hour after the earthquake as engineers from the Department of Public Works and Engineering checked for any structural damage, according to county spokesperson William Heine.

“All systems in all the buildings were checked and we did not sustain any damages,” Heine said.

Numerous phone companies advised customers to text or e-mail and avoid making calls to cut down on call volume and improve cell service. Those companies included T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon.

"Seeing no reports of damage to our wireless network. There was some network congestion in the East after tremors," Verizon spokesman David Samberg posted on Twitter.

Trains, buses and light rail are all operating and NJTransit tickets are being cross-honored, Governor Chris Christie said in a statement.measures after its sensors registered the quake.

Once the seismic event was verified the plant went into an "unusual event," which is considered the lowest level of their emergency plan, spokesperson Suzanne D’Ambrosio said. This activates the plant’s emergency response organization and emergency response procedures.

“While in the usual event, the plant operators and emergency personnel will walk the entire site to make sure nothing was affected by seismic event itself,” she said.

The plant is still at full power and the plant will be able to provide further information on the impact of the earthquake once it becomes available.

Oyster Creek, which began commercial operations in 1969, is the oldest operating nuclear plant in the country and provides enough around-the-clock electricity for 600,000 New Jersey homes.

Likewise,  were taken off line by safety systems when the quake hit.A senior Obama administration told the Washington Post that the White House “shook pretty hard.”

Other Capitol buildings were also evacuated.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, New Jersey ranks low on the list of states at risk for experiencing an earthquake.

Northern New Jersey is put in a category that's low on the list and described as "having a hazard shaking of moderate intensity," which could be felt by all and could lead to slight damage.

Southern New Jersey is put in a category described as having "a small probability of experiencing damaging earth­quake effects."