Earthquake rattles Queens, may have caused Roosevelt Island explosions
NEW YORK — An earthquake rattled parts of Queens Tuesday morning and may have sparked a series of underground explosions reported on Roosevelt Island, city officials said.
“The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports that a 1.7 magnitude earthquake has occurred near Astoria, Queens,” Notify NYC reported. “The earthquake has reportedly been felt in the New York City area, but there are no reports of injuries or damage in New York City at this time.”
Residents of both Manhattan and Queens reported hearing multiple explosions just before 6 a.m. centered Main St. in Roosevelt Island just south of the Roosevelt Island Bridge to Queens. Callers reported that at least one building near the explosion shook, an FDNY spokesman said.
Firefighters arrived and found no flames and no one injured. The explosion, which may be electrical, appeared to have occurred underground.
The FDNY handed the job over to Con Edison, which was investigating. Residents were told to avoid the area as the probe continued.
No power outages have been reported, a Con Edison spokesman said.
Earthquakes below 2.5 magnitude are very small and are usually not felt by most people, although they do show up on seismographs.
