4.0 aftershock rocks New Jersey on Friday evening following 4.8 earthquake

Following the earthquake that measured 4.8 magnitude on the Richter scale Friday morning in New Jersey, aftershocks caused more rumbles throughout the Garden State.

At approximately 5:59 p.m. an aftershock of 4.0 magnitude occurred southwest of Gladstone, an unincorporated community within the borough of Peapack-Gladstone in Somerset County, according to the United States Geological Survey.

"New Jersey just experienced an aftershock," Gov. Phil Murphy posted on X, formerly Twitter. "Please follow the emergency guidance ... and avoid calling 911 unless you have an actual emergency."

NJ earthquake: Friday's earthquake was the strongest in NJ since 1783. A look back at quake history

During the nearly eight hours time between the original 4.8 earthquake and the 4.0 aftershock, 10 aftershocks initially registered between the magnitudes 1.8 and 2.2. But as of 8:45 p.m. Friday, that number increased to at least 14 aftershocks. And an additional three (two at 1.9 magnitude and one at 1.5 magnitude) were experienced after the 4.0 aftershock.

Two aftershocks with a magnitude of 2.0 were felt in the Chester area a few minutes apart from each other at 5:14 and 5:18 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m., the Bedminster area experienced an aftershock of 1.8 magnitude and about 20 minutes later, Whitehouse Station felt an aftershock of the same magnitude. An hour earlier, Long Valley experienced an aftershock that measured 2.0 magnitude.

The United States Geological Survey says smaller earthquakes called aftershocks can occur in the same general area during days or weeks following the mainshock, which is the largest earthquake in the sequence. On Friday, that was the 4.8 magnitude that occurred with an epicenter near Tewksbury.

Similar to earthquakes it is impossible to predict the time and place of an aftershock. The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program shared its predictions Friday evening, saying there is a 78% chance of at least one aftershock with a magnitude of more than 3.0 will occur within the next week, but only 16% of an aftershock occurring with a higher magnitude of 4.0 and two percent chance of having an aftershock with a magnitude larger than 5.0.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ feels earthquake aftershocks after 4.8 tremors on Friday