As earthquakes jolt New York, Taiwan within one week, seismologists cited active tectonic plate motions as cause

A 4.8-magnitude earthquake jolted waters near Hualien in China's Taiwan region on Saturday, just three days after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the sea area near the same region. The previous earthquake has so far claimed 13 lives.

In less than one week, earthquakes of various magnitudes have rattled parts of China, including the island of Taiwan, Southwest China's Yunnan Province; as well as New York in the US. Seismologists attributed the frequent earthquakes to active tectonic plate movement but dismissed any connection between the tremors.

An earthquake jolted New York City on Friday morning, followed by more than 10 aftershocks which shook New Jersey, sending tremors as far as Philadelphia and Boston and jolting buildings in Manhattan and throughout its five boroughs, US media reported.

The preliminary quake, measuring 4.8 magnitude, was centered around Lebanon, New Jersey, approximately 60 kilometers from New York City, at a depth of about 5 kilometers.

Following the earthquake, New York City mayor Eric Adams stated at a press conference that no injuries had been reported.

The densely populated New York City was caught off guard by the unusual event. Broadcaster CBS reported that New York had not experienced an earthquake of this magnitude since 1884.

Shannon Graham, assistant physics professor at The College of New Jersey, told US media that the quake in New York was likely the result of stored-up stress in the Earth's crust along "ancient plate boundaries," which formed hundreds of millions of years ago when the African and North American land masses combined and then broke apart.

On Saturday, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake jolted Ludian county in Yunnan, and no casualties were reported as of press time.

On Wednesday (April 3), a 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the sea area near Hualien in China's Taiwan region. The earthquake has so far claimed 13 lives and injured 1,145 as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Taiwan authorities.

The mainland is paying close attention to the 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the Taiwan region and the development of the disaster, and is ready to provide disaster relief assistance, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday.

The mainland is highly concerned about the situation and extends sincere sympathy to the Taiwan compatriots affected by the disaster, said Zhu.

The Chinese mainland is highly concerned over the damage caused by the earthquake on the island of Taiwan. It has already expressed condolences to Taiwan compatriots who were affected, and is ready to provide assistance, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations said Wednesday. Geng also expressed gratitude to the international community for its concern and sympathy toward the island of Taiwan regarding the earthquake.

The frequent occurrence of earthquakes at the beginning of the year only indicates active tectonic plate motions, and the causes of those tremors in different parts of the world are not connected, Wang Tun, head of a key earthquake early warning laboratory in China's Sichuan Province, told the Global Times on Saturday.

However, experts argue that the frequent earthquakes should serve as a wake-up call for all countries to prioritize early warning systems for natural disasters.

In 2023, Chinese officials announced that China had established the world's largest earthquake early warning network, achieving a breakthrough development from minutes-level earthquake alerts to seconds-level earthquake warnings.