Residents of Wyomissing Hills and Spring Ridge inundated 911 operators Friday afternoon with reports of a possible explosion. After being dispatched to several locations, emergency crews from several local departments could not find the cause.
Initially, Berks County Department of Emergency Services took to Facebook to alert residents of the issue, stating “We are aware that there was an explosion or earthquake in the Wyomissing area. PLEASE DO NOT call 911 if you do not have an emergency to report. We are overwhelmed with callers reporting nothing apart from hearing a loud noise and this prevents callers with real emergencies from getting through.”
Rumors also circulated social media, including a report about UGI blasting in the area of Wilson High School. This was not the case. Still, no one could figure out what was going on. Until, the United State Geological Society posted an update on their website.
According to the USGS, a small earthquake, magnitude 2.2, hit Berks County near the Stilling Basin of Blue Marsh Lake. The recorded time was 1:11pm. The earthquake was picked up by multiple monitoring stations, with a depth of 1.25 miles underground. View the USGS report page here.
