A newly discovered fault line explains why New York City shook so badly after the earthquake

A newly discovered fault line in the Northeast may explain why April's 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck near its epicenter in New Jersey, but shook millions of people 40 miles away in New York City.

A new study announced by Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory on Monday identified unusual movements along the fault line on April 5, the day the quake struck. The fault line runs from south to north and dips into the ground at a 45-degree angle, the researchers wrote. When the quake struck, the previously unmapped sides of the fault slid against each other horizontally, with one side pressing against the other, the researchers wrote.

Seismic waves usually move toward the surface during this rupture, causing the most damage near the epicenter. But in the April quake, the force of the event traveled downward until it hit a thick layer of rock 20 miles below the Earth's surface. The seismic waves then bounced toward New York City and other places along the fault's path. The tremors strengthened the area's rocks, which are solid and dense, making them ideal conductors of energy, according to the study.

“Near the epicenter, there was much less damage or shaking than expected from a 4.8 magnitude earthquake, and that was one of the things that was unique about this earthquake,” said Won Young Kim, a Columbia University professor and one of the study’s authors. “In New York City, we felt a magnitude 4 quake, so you were shaking so everyone could feel the quake.”

The researchers identified the new fault line by analyzing seismic activity between the surface and the Moho, the layer between the planet's crust and mantle.

The earthquake shook the doors, walls and windows of New York City. According to the study, more than 150 buildings suffered minor damage, such as surface cracks in the construction. A Brooklyn school had to close its gym for repairs. Gas and water pipes leaked in the Hudson Valley.

In Newark, officials temporarily evacuated more than two dozen people from their homes to inspect possible damage from the earthquake.

But not much happened in Tewksbury, the small town at the epicenter.

More than 500 known earthquakes have struck the region since the 17th century, most of which have gone unnoticed today. Researchers have suggested that seismic activity along the fault line could pose a greater threat than previously known.

“The realistic scenario is that this type of magnitude 5 earthquake will happen again,” Kim said. “It usually happens once every 100 years, but it could happen tomorrow. This is the unpredictable nature of an earthquake occurring in this region.

Research released by Columbia University in 2008 indicated the possibility of more devastating earthquakes of magnitude 6 occurring in the region every 700 years. That would be 10 times stronger than the Tewksbury earthquake. Although skyscrapers built on a solid bedrock in Manhattan can withstand an earthquake of this strength, it can be devastating in neighborhoods like Astoria and Long Island City, which are built on clay, sediment and backfill.

Every estimated 3,400 years, the region could experience a magnitude 7 earthquake, which is 100 times more powerful than the Tewksbury quake, according to research. The strongest earthquake ever recorded by humans in the New York City area measured 5.2 in 1884, five years before the first skyscraper was built.

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