Earthquake and Aftershock Shake New York City: Live Updates

Our emergency alerts may lag, but no other city can out-hustle this one:

Yes:

Earthquake Insights’ Dr. Judith Hubbard and Dr. Kyle Bradley explained the possible aftershocks in their detailed analysis of the East Coast quake:

As with all earthquakes, this event will trigger some aftershocks. Aftershocks are simply earthquakes that occur after other earthquakes, and are therefore thought to be related to stress changes caused by the first event. Most aftershocks will be small - many of them too small to feel. As of this post, six events smaller than magnitude 2.5 have already been detected.

Based on records from past events, the USGS has developed an aftershock forecast. This forecast shows that aftershocks of at least magnitude 3 are likely; magnitude 4+ events are also possible (30% chance over the next year). It is possible, but not likely, that this earthquake could trigger an event above magnitude 5. If that happened, that event would renamed the mainshock, and the M4.8 would be described as a foreshock.

And per USGS research structural engineer Kishor S. Jaiswal, in a comment to the New York Times:

The aftershocks will likely “continue for several days and even a week,” he said Friday evening. There is also a small chance that an earthquake of similar or even larger magnitude could occur during such a sequence, he said.

The aftershock, registering a preliminary 4.0 magnitude, happened at 5:59 p.m. with an epicenter a little over 4 miles southwest of Gladstone, New Jersey. It was not the first aftershock, but the first one widely felt in the area since the more powerful first quake in the series on Friday morning.

Animals don’t love earthquakes.

But there were no injuries. WABC reports:

Three multifamily homes have been evacuated by the city of Newark following Friday’s earthquake. There’s some roof damage. One house apparently shifted during the earthquake and is now leaning on the house next door. The homes are located near the intersection of 7th Avenue and 3rd Street.

Shortly after the earthquake at 10:23 a.m. on Friday, the city received a 911 call to report structural damage. When firefighters arrived, they evacuated all three buildings.

Ten families are displaced — a total of 25 people, including 3 children.

Aaron Short spoke with a structural engineer Troy Morgan, who says we shouldn’t bet on the safety of brick:

Which city buildings are the least equipped for an earthquake?

Generally, unreinforced masonry or brick buildings because they’re heavy and they lack steel reinforcement. Things that are heavy experience more force, and if they don’t have enough steel reinforcement to resist those forces, they can be susceptible to damage. There are a lot of brick buildings in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and those are buildings you’d expect to see cracking to develop or damage to their foundations. You can get shaking if there’s a large enough quake, and you can get liquefaction, where the soil temporarily liquifies, and you can get settlement that results from that.

Read the rest of the interview here.

A 1995 New York cover story, which we’ve republished for the first time today, examined how well the city would hold up against an earthquake. It begins:

More than 80 people were interviewed for this piece. They came from many different disciplines. They had wildly competitive agendas. But there was one thing they all agreed on: It’s coming. They disagreed on how big, how devastating, how soon. But this, no one denies — we’re going to see an earthquake. In New York City. And we’re not ready for it. 

Read the rest of that story here.

Experts, if you believe in experts, tell the New York Times there’s scant evidence the two rare events could be related:

Earthquakes happen along fault lines, or cracks between two blocks of rock on Earth’s crust. Tides stretch and squish the land on Earth just as they contribute to waves in the ocean, and those tidal forces grow as the sun, moon and Earth begin to align — a configuration that sometimes creates a solar eclipse.

One theory is that this may introduce additional stress along Earth’s fault lines.

“We do know that the relative position of the Earth and the moon and the sun does exert tidal forces,” said William Frank, a geophysicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “And we know that changes the stress that can be on a fault that can host an earthquake.”

But the results of several studies of the relationship between earthquakes and tides are inconclusive, according to Seth Stein, a geophysicist at Northwestern University. “If there’s any effect, it would be incredibly weak,” he said.

I just wrote about the flat-footed response from city and state officials in the immediate aftermath of the quake:

An emergency alert from the city didn’t hit phones for a full half hour after the shaking stopped. A second alert followed about 45 minutes later. An alert from the state would go out nearly a full hour after the quake had subsided, though Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement shortly after the tremors.

When asked about the gap in between when the earthquake was registered to when city residents were alerted, the city’s emergency manager Zach Iscol said the time was actually fast by their standards.

A 2.0 magnitude aftershock was detected near Bedminster, New Jersey, at 12:20 p.m., according to the USGS. While some have reported it “rocked” Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club, there’s no evidence anybody even felt the second, much smaller tremor.

Per Gothamist:

New York City Emergency Management said it hadn’t received reports of any damage to infrastructure shortly after the tremor shook the five boroughs and surrounding area. City infrastructure and services continued to operate following the rare quake. New York City’s public schools had no reports of damage as of about 11 a..m, according to school system spokesperson Nathaniel Styer.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reopened the Holland Tunnel following a short delay at about 11:15 a.m.

In New Jersey, the state’s Board of Public Utilities said gas and electric infrastructure appeared to be undamaged. “No impacts or damage to utility infrastructure or the grid resulting from the earthquake have been reported at this time,” the board wrote on X just before noon.

Inspectors, architects and construction site managers who spoke with Gothamist on Friday morning said they had not received reports of damages or disruption.

Wired interviews Justin Allen, who had the misfortune of being in a very delicate situation during Friday morning’s tremor:

At what stage of the procedure did this happen?

We were probably almost at the midway point. Essentially, the procedure started around 10:10 [am ET] and it was 10:24 or 10:25 that the earthquake hit.

Could you, uh, paint the picture for me of what it was like on that table?

I’m laying there. He’s in the middle of whatever he needs to do down there and the whole building started shaking. I wasn’t sure what was happening. It definitely felt like an earthquake, but we don’t normally have those. I didn’t know if there was a train nearby or something that would cause the building to shake.

And then the doctor was like, “Oh my, God. That’s an earthquake.” I thought he was messing with me. I thought it was just him trying to be funny. But as this was happening, the desk staff outside the room started screaming about an earthquake and I was like “Oh, wow this is really happening.” And the doctor puts the tools down and asks, “How long does an earthquake normally last?” and the nurse said, “I think about a minute or two.” So we stopped and waited, and he resumed as soon as it was done.

So he stopped right as the shaking happened?

I think so. He was toward the end of whatever step he was doing right then and there. But he did set the tools down for a moment to recalibrate.

Seems like the shaking lasted about 40 seconds:

Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials held a briefing shortly after noon following the earthquake that unsettled the metro area. He said that he’s been in touch with both the White House and Governor Hochul’s office but that the quake appears to have had minimal impact on the city.

“At this point, we do not have any reports of major impacts to our infrastructure or injuries, but, of course, we’re still assessing the situation and will continue to update the public,” he said.

NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said that the likelihood of aftershocks is “low” but advised residents to be attentive in the coming days. “We do remain vigilant and we ask all New Yorkers to remain vigilant as well,” he said.

In a briefing just before noon, Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters that the state hadn’t felt a quake of this magnitude since 2011, when the effects of a 5.8 earthquake that struck Virginia could be felt as far away as Buffalo. “This is one of the largest earthquakes on the East Coast to occur in the last century,” she said.

The governor announced that structural and engineering teams are surveying bridges and roads as well as transmission lines and dams for any impact from the earthquake, but so far nothing has been reported. Hochul also advised residents to inspect their own properties for any damage and to stay alert in case of any aftershocks.

“If there is an after effect, please stay away from buildings, especially our high-rises. If you hear a shifting or any noises, unusual noises, leave your home. Go outside. You’re safer there than in a building that could be crumbling around you,” she said.

Hochul noted that she was meeting with her senior team about the ongoing budget negotiations when the earthquake hit. “Getting a budget done that includes a once in a lifetime housing package may be the only seismic event we expected this week. So this was rather unanticipated,” she said.

Our official Rapture correspondent, Sarah Jones, asks:

We had floods earlier this week. A solar eclipse is imminent, as is a plague of locusts. Eric Adams is the mayor. It’s all very troubling!

And so I return to the Scriptures for guidance, as if the earth shook the atheism right out of me. The Book of Revelation mentions earthquakes quite a lot. For example, in chapter eight: “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” And later, in chapter 16: “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”

Read the rest of her response here.

There was quite a scene as my plane touched down at JFK and every passenger’s phone sounds out loud with two separate emergency alerts at once. And it’s not even a Boeing plane!

Here’s the outdated guidance the mayor tweeted out about aftershocks:

But the federal government specifically recommends not going near doorways:

If you are inside, stay and do not run outside and avoid doorways.

As a USGS scientist explained to the New York Times:

Experts used to advise people to stand under a doorway during an earthquake, but they don’t do that anymore, Dr. [Robert-Michael de Groot] said. “There was a time when the doorway was structurally more stable, stronger than the rest of other parts of the house,” he said. “That really isn’t the case anymore.”

An emergency alert went out to phones in the NYC metro area, warning residents to remain indoors and to contact 911 if injured. However, the notification didn’t go out until around 11:02 a.m., a full 39 minutes after the quake was first felt. Ahead of the alert, a City Hall spokesman told social media for “awareness” that the city’s emergency-management department would be sending the message. The administration has previously faced criticism for what was seen as a slow response to crises such as the flooding in the city in 2023. A second anticlimactic alert went out at around 11:46 a.m., warning residents that aftershocks “may be felt” but that they can “continue usual activities.”

Arrivals into Newark, JFK, and La Guardia airports were held because of the quake, the FAA said, according to the New York Times, with 45-minute delays expected. Amtrak is limiting speed until it can finish inspecting the tracks:

It’s not yet clear whether New York City might experience aftershocks, though local officials are warning about the possibility. According to the United States Geological Survey, aftershocks, or the smaller quakes that follow the main earthquake, tend to follow shallow quakes rather than quakes that are more than 30 kilometers deep.

When you feel a strong earthquake, the current advice is to drop down to the ground, cover your heads and neck with your arms, and to take cover under a sturdy object like a table or desk and hold on tight.

So far, damage appears to be minimal, with New Yorkers more frustrated with inconveniences caused by the unusual event:

So far, people seem focused on making jokes about the rare and (thankfully minor) seismic shock — and particularly jokes at the expense of the mayor:

Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted that the state will be “assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred.” Mayor Eric Adams was being briefed on the matter, according to his press office. He will hold a press conference at 12 p.m.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake’s epicenter was near Lebanon, New Jersey, about 50 miles west of New York City. It registered at a 4.8 on the Richter scale and was felt as far away as Philadelphia and Boston. It appears to be the largest earthquake in the area since the 1800s.