Earth Quake Felt in Hoboken; Buildings Evacuated Downtown

Earth quake tremors were felt in Hoboken on Tuesday afternoon.

At first glance, damage in Hoboken appeared to be minimal, but fire trucks were heard rushing down town and people were evacuated from office buildings there.

A 5.8 magnitude earth quake struck Virginia on Tuesday afternoon, and tremors reached all the way to Hudson County and New York City. Other reports of shaking and tremors were reported in other parts of New Jersey, with multiple reports coming in over the police radio.

According to the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, few incidents of damage were reported, and all bridges and tunnels appeared to be in tact.

According to the NJOEM mobile phone service was unavailable for many users in the state, mostly because of the unusually high volume of calls. 

PATH service was operating normally immediately after the earth quake.

The City sent out a warning that after shocks may be felt on Tuesday afternoon. Residents can call the main line of the police department at 201 420 2100.

According to people inside, the downtown building of Wiley Publishing shook pretty heavily. One of the people working there, said he was on the phone with a colleague in Philadelphia, when they both felt the tremors at the same time.

A little after 3 p.m., the Hoboken Fire Department let people back into their offices.

Hobokenites started tweeting and updating Facebook as soon as the tremors hit the region.

"Totally felt the earthquake in my house. Thought it was just strong wind and then it was lasting for too long," one Hobokenite tweeted.

"My house started swaying back and forth I thought it was a strong wind but then it lasted too long for it to be wind," tweeted @nlenzi.

"#Hoboken appears to have experience a minor earthquake. Hope everyone is OK!" tweeted @TheBoken.

Brett Wilshe contributed reporting.