Carli Sileo was working at Havana Jeans last week when the earth began to rumble.
“The counter was shaking,” she recalled. “The immediate thought was that it was construction happening on Purchase Street. It wasn’t until a customer got a phone call asking if she felt the earthquake that we realized what was happening.”
As it turned out, the entire region had been jolted by an unexpected 4.8 magnitude earthquake, which originated from Readington Township, N.J., approximately 40 miles west of New York City.
“I thought it was an earthquake right away,” said resident Desiree Granda. “I got a lot of calls from family and friends. It was over very quickly, and business went on as usual.”
August Thompson, who was working at the Rye YMCA, said: “I thought it was a treadmill broken upstairs, but I had a feeling it could be an earthquake. I turned on the news quickly and figured out it was an earthquake. We received a lot of calls from concerned parents, but the day continued normally.”
“I thought it was something to do with the Chiropractor’s office upstairs,” said Bernadette Whalen, who was working at All Paws on Purchase Street. “I was standing behind the register when everything started shaking. This is an old building, so I thought maybe a machine broke or something. I didn’t realize it was an earthquake until a customer came in and said, ‘Did you feel the earthquake?’ “
Jaclyn Falk was just starting her shift at Longford’s Ice Cream when the earth shook. “I just turned on the soft-serve ice cream machine, so I thought the vibration was coming from the machine,” she said. “I had no idea it was an earthquake until I saw all the texts on my phone.”
As the ground settled and Rye residents returned to their routines — with no serious damage or injuries — the earthquake became the topic of the day.
