By Andres Correa
06 Apr 2024, 09:19 AM EDT
One of the best-known symbols in the world, the Statue of Liberty, had an intense start to April: in less than 48 hours it was struck by lightning during the severe storms on Wednesday and then was shaken by the tremor reported yesterday in New York , and all this on the eve of a solar eclipse this Monday.
Yesterday a video captured the Statue being shaken, like everything around it in the tri-state area with the 4.8 magnitude tremor. Previously, on Wednesday, during intense rain with winds that proved fatal, photographer Dan Martland captured a magical image of the exact moment lightning struck the “Lady Liberty” torch around 6 p.m., he noted. USA Today.
It is not unusual for the Statue to be struck by lightning, as it happens several times a year and in fact the same photographer captured a similar image on April 23, 2023. “The exact number (that is struck by lightning per year) is unknown. “But its height and its copper coating, which conducts electricity, make it an easy target,” he explained. AccuWeather.com.
What is rare are earthquakes in New York Bay and that happened yesterday morning, less than 48 hours after the lightning bolt captured at dusk on Wednesday. Approximately 42 million people felt the tremor at 10:23 a.m., according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). It appears to have shaken areas as far south as Washington DC and as far north as the New York-Canada border, with an epicenter in Lebanon (NJ), he noted. Pix11.
No injuries or physical damage were reported in New York City, but three buildings in Newark, New Jersey’s most populous city, were structurally affected and 10 families were evacuated.
Responding to a social media user’s question about how long he waited in the storm to capture the image this week, Martland said he tracks the weather with apps before going out to photograph. “I’ve had times where I was out for eight hours and got nothing. (On Wednesday) it was only an hour. “The storm passed pretty quickly.”
Since 1886 the Statue – America’s best-known symbol – has stood on Liberty Island as an image of freedom and justice, but it has not always been green. “When it was completed the copper panels shone like a new coin. However, over the years, the copper color changed to green as the metal oxidized.
French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi had no idea that the copper statue would change to its iconic blue-green color about 20 years later, according to Edward Berenson, a history professor at New York University (NYU) and author of the book “The Statue.” of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story.”
Every day the Statue of Liberty receives about 10,000 people – and many more photograph it from a distance – for an estimated annual 4.3 million visitors.