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New York City Earthquake!

Not a very big
one, though

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Report

Dateline:
01/18/01

Did you feel it?

The U.S. Geological
Survey reports a magnitude 2.5 earthquake shook the southern tip of
Manhattan and Queens, near Newark, New Jersey, at 7:34 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

While shaking was felt
in New York City, the USGS received no reports of damage or injuries from
the trembler.

Contrary to popular
belief, the U.S. East Coast is not immune from earthquake. In fact,
reports the USGS, the East Coast has suffered at least one damaging
earthquake in each of the past three centuries.  One hit north of Boston in 1755,
and another struck Charleston in 1886, causing around 60 deaths and
destroying many buildings. In 1884, New York was shaken by an earthquake
that caused damage in 30 towns from Connecticut to Pennsylvania.

January 17 is a
historically bad earthquake day. On that date in 1994, a magnitude 6.7
earthquake centered near Northridge, California, caused more than $20
billion in damage and killed around 60 people. One year later, on January
17, 1995, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, killed at least 6,300
people, injured and displaced thousands of others, and caused more than
$100 billion in damage.

The minor New York shake came only five days after a devastating
magnitude 7.6 quake centered just off the southern coast of El Salvador
killed at least 600 people, while leaving 1,800 missing and over 2,000
homeless. The major quake was felt over much of Central America. [See: Salvadorans
fear aftershocks, possible mudslides after quake (CNN - Jan. 15,
2001)]

No part of North America is totally free from earthquake danger. To
learn more about earthquakes, especially how to prepare for and survive
them, see: Earthquake
Hazard Program from the USGS.

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