New York is not located in an area of seismic activity, but this Friday at 10:23 in the morning, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the Big Apple, generating alarm among those New Yorkers who felt it, and surprise among those who did not. They perceived the telluric movement. The last time a significant earthquake had been recorded in New York was in 2011, when a similar tremor was reported that affected the northeastern part of the country.
And beyond the fear that the tremor caused and the anguish that the tremor triggered among residents of Queens, such as Anamirta Mateus, who claimed to have been “petrified from such a strong scare,” hours later municipal authorities gave a statement of tranquility and assured that no No serious incidents or victims had been reported. In New Jersey, where it was felt most strongly, three buildings were declared unsafe due to damage and 10 families were relocated.
At noon, and surrounded by commissioners from various City agencies, the mayor, Eric Adams, asked New Yorkers to remain calm and although he revealed that there was no considerable damage in any of the five boroughs or human losses, he stated that he instructed to various emergency teams to thoroughly review whether there were incidents or effects on infrastructure and construction points.
“At approximately 10:23 am, New York City felt the impact of a magnitude 4.8 earthquake. The epicenter was in Lebanon, New Jersey, about 50 miles from New York City. Our first responders are working to ensure that New Yorkers are safe and, at this time, we do not have any reports of significant impacts or injuries,” said the mayor, while asking residents of the Big Apple to be attentive to the fate of relatives. and neighbors. Likewise, he did not rule out that minor aftershocks could occur, as occurred on three occasions throughout the day, for which he issued a series of basic recommendations. Adams said he didn’t feel the shaking.
“I encourage all New Yorkers to check on their loved ones and, if you feel an aftershock, drop to the ground, cover your head and neck, and take cover under solid furniture, next to an interior wall, or in a doorway. . “No major life safety or infrastructure issues have been reported so far, but we will continue our inspections of critical infrastructure.”
The governor, Kathy Hochul, also issued a statement of calm, and regarding the aftershocks that occurred in the afternoon, she stated that they were normal after an earthquake, and she agreed with Mayor Adams by insisting that emergency teams will be alert.
“Millions of New Yorkers felt the effects of a magnitude 4.8 earthquake, whose epicenter was in central New Jersey. That’s about 45 miles west of Manhattan. In fact, we feel it here at the Capitol in Albany,” said the state leader. “We are taking this very seriously and here’s why: There is always the possibility of aftershocks. “I ordered my emergency management team, the moment we got word of this, to start doing damage assessments: any lives in danger and find out if there are any bridges or tunnels that are compromised.”
However, after carrying out inspections in tunnels and bridges, as well as in buildings throughout New York, authorities discovered damage.
The Governor added that she understands the anxiety that the earthquake produced among New Yorkers, especially when just a couple of days ago a strong earthquake occurred in Taiwan that left a dozen dead and more than 1,000 injured, as well as serious damage, so He asked everyone to stay alert and be informed.
The Chancellor of Education of the City of New York, David Banks, said that after reviewing information from all the City’s public schools, no students were reported affected by the earthquake, but he warned that he instructed construction and maintenance teams to review the campuses to ensure that there was no serious damage.
“All of our students throughout the school system are safe. All our staff are safe. “We have no reports of any structural damage to any of our school facilities, while many schools felt some movement from the tremor,” said Banks, who like the Mayor, assured that everything went on normally afterwards. Parents did not have to pick up their children before the end of the day, nor were after-school programs cancelled.
Likewise, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) joined the report of tranquility and assured that the regional and local transit system was operating safely and normally, and inspections of stations and the track system did not show damage to any infrastructure.
“The transit system remained operating continuously and safely throughout the incident and have continued until now… Initial inspections of all facilities have been completed and more initial inspections are underway, emphasizing that all seven MTA-operated bridges have “They have been inspected, and I want to emphasize that they were designed to withstand seismic impacts much stronger than those we experience today,” said Janno Lieber, president and CEO of the MTA. The official added that just as the school system functioned fully after the earthquake, the same thing happened with the transit system.
After the quake, cell phone users received several notifications related to the quake and aftershocks, but the first one took 20 minutes to arrive, which to some New Yorkers seemed like a long time, but the city’s Emergency Management Commissioner of New York, Zach Iscol, said it was normal to take those minutes.
“There’s a lot of work we have to do to make sure we get confirmation from the USGS that it was indeed an earthquake. Twenty minutes is very fast for a public notification,” said the official, who added that there will be more deployment of personnel on the streets, as will occur with workers from the Department of Buildings, to review and guarantee that there was no serious damage.
Another important recommendation is that if residents of houses and apartments smell gas, they report it to 311.
After the scare caused by the tremor, in the streets of Queens and the rest of the city, the earthquake became a topic of conversation and although many expressed being nervous, especially because in the Big Apple these types of movements are uncommon, others confessed that They didn’t even feel it when it happened. The calmest ones even joked about the event and there was no shortage of those who made memes.
“Oh my God, it felt ugly. The floor shook for me and I just started praying asking God to stop soon,” confessed Colombian Mariela Lizarazo, while she was chatting in a Long Island City cafeteria with her friend. “I left straight here because I’m afraid of staying at home alone.”
José Muñoz, amidst laughter, joined in the moment and said that he did not feel the tremor. “I was walking on the street and the truth is I didn’t feel even a little wind that told me I was shaking. Afterwards I heard the uproar from many people who said that it was strong. I’m sure I don’t even feel anything about the old thing anymore,” said the Peruvian, who showed the funny images that his son sent him about the tremor. “We have to take things on the light side, especially because thank God nothing serious happened. But now with this little shakedown I think the planet is asking us to be kinder to it.”
Data on the earthquake in NY
- 4.8 degrees was the magnitude of the earthquake
- 10:23 the earthquake occurred
- Lebanon, New Jersey, about 50 miles from New York City, was the epicenter of the earthquake
- At least 4 aftershocks, with magnitudes less than 2 degrees, were recorded later.
- 0 serious damage reported in the Big Apple
- 2011 was the last time New York felt such a strong earthquake.