Stony Brook University professor breaks down Tuesday's magnitude 2.7 earthquake

News 12 spoke with a professor in the geosciences Department at Stony Brook University and residents in Pearl River about the earthquake.

Julia Rosier

Aug 5, 2025, 9:39 PM

Updated 5 hr ago

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A magnitude 2.7 earthquake rattled parts of the tri-state area Tuesday afternoon.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake hit the city of Hillsdale, New Jersey, near the same area that was hit by a tremor with a magnitude of 3.0 on Saturday evening.
News 12 spoke with William Holt, a professor in the geosciences department at Stony Brook University, about the earthquake.
He explained both earthquakes in the last two days and says there is no cause for concern.
“It was shallow. We'd call it an intra-plate earthquake, or it's in the middle. It's occurred within the interior of the North American plate,” says Holt.
Holt says people may have felt “light-to-moderate shaking.”
“We get about one event of this magnitude every one to three years within the area,” says Holt. “You can get them back-to-back like this.”
News 12 was also in Pearl River to learn more about what people there were experiencing.
Pearl River is about 4 miles from Hillsdale, New Jersey.
"I was home, I was doing some work. It shook the house. I thought something hit the house," says resident Tim Fagan.
“That’s kind of scary, second one in a week,” says Kathryne Pirog, a Pearl River resident. “I felt a rattle in my chair but nothing too crazy.”
There have been no reports of damage or injuries in Rockland County.