Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake Strikes New York Metro Area and East Coast

will_a113@lemmy.ml to News@lemmy.world – 299 points –
Earthquake hits U.S. East Coast, shaking buildings from Philadelphia to Boston
nbcnews.com
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“These are competent rocks that transmit energy well,”

Oh. Well. Thank you for that.

When you have AI write your article....

In geology competence refers to the degree of resistance of rocks to deformation or flow.[1] In mining 'competent rocks' are those in which an unsupported opening can be made

It’s a perfectly cromulent word.

AI would never write such a strange sentence in my experience.

You appear to have a much different experience with AI than I do.

People who live near active fault lines: "don't even talk to me unless it's a 6.0+"

Remember, a lot of the structures in the tristate area were not designed with quakes in mind. A 4 or 5 might feel a lot more uncomfortable if you’re standing in an unreinforced masonry building that could topple if you fart too hard.

I 100% agree. I was more joking that people who live near fault lines are elitist when it comes to the size of earthquakes..

Humans are weirdly competitive

100%. It’s the same when CA gets a ton of rain or when Texas gets a bunch of ice. The infrastructure wasn’t built for it.

Although it was funny as fuck to see the NY governor do a press conference for a 4.x earthquake a state away.

Also I believe the East has more bedrock so earthquakes are felt more strongly.

I’ve heard a few people say this. I’m curious about where that is coming from.

Siesmographs show that looser soil produces higher amplitude waves, which is much more dangerous. Bedrock produces smaller, but more frequent waves. When you build in earthquake country, the modern goal is usually to drill pillars down to bedrock.

https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/buildings__bedrock_effects_of_amplification__liquefaction

I don't remember exactly where I read it originally, but this article says something similar: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/earthquake-shakes-us-east-coast-rcna146575

Earthquakes on the East Coast can be felt at a great distance and can cause more pronounced shaking in comparison to those on the West Coast because rocks in the region are often older, harder and more dense.

“These are competent rocks that transmit energy well,” Simons said.

Dang, New York even takes credit for the Earthquakes in New Jersey

Imagine being a Pennsylvanian, we're the mystery grey box taking up 40% of every map of NY and NJ.

Thought a low airliner was going by. Shook my monitors. Neat.

dang, what that a scary experience considering the history of airliners in NYC?

Lived in NYC my whole life. Moved to Staten Island and, unknowingly, moved under a military flight path. First time they flew a trio of Ospreys low over my neighborhood and my house was shaking, there was a level of “not again” panic that you just can’t explain fully.

Likewise, at first I assumed construction or big truck, but as it lasted my list of "what ifs" was a bit frightening. Took a minute before earthquake even crossed my mind.

I thought it was a train derailment at first.

Serious question here: how terrible that earthquake was for you guys?

Here in Chile, 4.8 is like nothing happened at all. The news wouldn't cover it.

If this was California, no one would care. Most Californians feel a few of those a year.

Problem is, this part of the country does not normally get earthquakes. So the people aren’t used to feeling them, and a lot of structures are not built to move. And the latter issue can be dangerous.

I was in my lab when it happened and felt like a car with octagonal wheels was driving down the hallway. Its out of the ordinary for us in the NY area though so everyone got excited. Hope that analogy helps

When it starts sounding like square wheels it's time to seek shelter

It was probably heptagonal but I wanted an even number.

I absolutely love this analogy. And I feel I may know fairly well how it felt.

There was no damage or disruptions so it wasn't terrible by any means.

It's definitely a rare event for the north eastern coast of north america.

I've never felt an earthquake, sometimes you can feel a 2.0 where we live - a little rumble.

So having a full on 4.8 is noteworthy because it's rare, novel, and many people did not know what was happening until it had passed. I was worried my house would be damaged from it but i don't think anything even fell off the shelves.

It doesn't sound like it did much damage, that area just (a) has a ton of people living in a small space and (b) doesn't typically have earthquakes. Like I literally can't remember NYC ever having an earthquake before.

We had an earthquake in 2011. It was 5.8 magnitude.

On the west coast of the US, you don’t even flinch for a 4.8, on the east coast of the US, it’s a big fucking deal.

I was in Kathmandu when a big 7.8 earthquake hit in 2015. We’ve had hundres’ of aftershock of 4 to 5 degree magnitude for over more than 6 months lol.

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Was getting ready to take off on a flight out of Baltimore when this happened. They evacuated the tower and we were delayed. Only took about 15-20 extra minutes. That could’ve been MUCH worse.

Was on a Zoom with a client in Brooklyn as it happened, it was pretty wild. I later spoke with my sister in Manhattan who didn't feel anything, so weird.

At I felt the 4.8 but the aftershock was nothing. I’m amazed by how much .8 makes a difference.

Jersey would be a more appropriate title. I imagine that the folks in the NY area probably felt the equivalent of a big truck driving by.

Tri state news typically ignores Jersey for anything that crosses state lines because it's all based out of NYC or Philly. Like there is no NBC NJ we piggy back off one of the other cities.

I'm at the far east end of LI and the office workers said the place was shaking and thought someone drove into a support beam that extends out of the building. It was enough to make a few of them walk outside for fear of their safety.

Sadly I work in the factory so I didn't feel anything but the typical stuff from machines and whatnot lol

I felt my building shake for several seconds. 4th floor prewar in Brooklyn.

The granite bedrock transmits the energy extremely well.

I thought a large truck was driving around in my Philadelphia rowhouse basement for about a minute.

Felt in eastern Rhode Island

Must be a very slow news day tbh. I saw a video, and it was just a doorbell camera shaking slightly, and another of some TikTok woman screeching that there was an earthquake.

Very much a lot of fuck all. The sort of thing where you go "what was that" and then look outside to see if there was a car crash, rather than get buried beneath the three floors above you.