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Small Earthquake Rattles Bernardsville, New Jersey

BERNARDSVILLE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A small earthquake rattled parts of central New Jersey and its residents early Friday morning.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude-2.7 quake hit around 3:41 a.m., roughly 2 miles north of Bernardsville at a depth of 31/2 miles.

Initially the quake was rated at magnitude-2.5.

USGS geophysicist Zachary Reeves says 78 people reported feeling it. Officials in neighboring Morris County said they also got calls from people in Morristown, Randolph and other areas, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.

Danielle Carlson and her husband had no idea at first an earthquake woke them up when it hit Bernardsville, Grymes reported.

"In the middle of the night we both looked at each other and said what the heck was that?,"Carlson said.

"Kind of just like a thunder clap, like a rumble. I woke up because the windows were shaking," resident Tom Wood told Grymes.

"As my wife and I were having coffee this morning, I said 'I think I felt it.' She slept through it," resident Matt Shermna told Grymes.

Reeves says such small earthquakes usually don't cause damage, but people will usually feel a little bit of shaking on higher floors.

"No reports of damage, however about an hour later we did have a transformer fire, but we don't know if that was related to the earthquake or not," said Bernardsville Police Lt. John Gardner.

Jersey Central Power & Light says the issue knocked out power to about 40 customers this morning. As for the earthquake, local barber Art Leardi said he is glad it wasn't worse.

"I went around I checked my house I woke everybody up and everything was fine," Leardi said.

The USGS says smaller earthquakes are felt in the region every two to three years.

Small Quake Shakes New Jersey Town

The last earthquake reported in New Jersey had a magnitude of 1.9 and happened about 17 miles east-southeast of Trenton on Dec. 13, 2014.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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