| New York City Earthquake! | |
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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.
