A magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattled the East Coast Friday morning, and the first question many New Yorkers had on their minds—as their apartment walls shook—was, “What is my landlord up to this time?”

Before any official news report, residents who felt the rumbling took to social media and their group chats to confirm the tectonic event wasn’t a figment of their imagination or a product of the quotidian NYC apartment woes. The lack of initial information and the confusion were also compounded by late emergency alerts. Here’s what we know so far.

Where did it hit?

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake originated in northern New Jersey, striking at 10:23 a.m. The tremors were felt in the surrounding tri-state area, including New York City, and as far away as the coasts of Maryland and Maine. No reports have been made, yet, of any injuries or substantial damage.

Wild! Is this common on the East Coast?

Earthquakes can happen at any time, anywhere, but they are a relatively rare occurrence on the East Coast. A geology professor explained to NBC New York that the city rests upon a “lazy plate,” meaning that the slipping of tectonic plates that causes earthquakes happens less frequently. (A regional branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Colorado wrote on X that New Jersey doeshave a known risk for earthquakes.)

What is surprising about this latest earthquake is not necessarily where it took place, geologist Chuck Ver Straeten told USA Today, but rather its magnitude. This one’s reported 4.8 strength was abnormal. He said earthquakes in the region are usually of a lower magnitude.

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Buffalo was struck by a magnitude 3.8 quake in February 2023—and that was the strongest recorded tectonic event in 40 years in the area. Higher-magnitude earthquakes also occurred relatively recently in Delaware, where a 4.1 magnitude event struck in 2017, and Virginia, which was rocked by a 5.8 quake in 2011.

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OK, got it. But why now? Is the coming solar eclipse related to the earthquake?

Doomsday conspiracies (and jokes) are swirling about the End Times, an unsurprising reaction to any alarming natural disaster, but there is no confirmed link between earthquakes and solar eclipses. (Don’t forget to get some eclipse glasses for April 8!)

OK, not an eclipse-related phenomenon. Does climate change have anything to do with the earthquake?

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It’s difficult to make causal inferences between climate change and larger earthquakes, according to a NASA interview with geophysicist Paul Lundgren. Climate change has been associated with increased sea levels and flooding, which are variables that could cause fault stress. However, Lundgren said that the correlation between climate change–caused stressors and earthquakes is seen with extremely small earthquakes (magnitudes below zero).

Amid the questions and a little bit of panic, many East Coast residents spoke about not feeling prepared for an earthquake emergency in their households. Lists of recommended supplies circulated on social media.

For New Yorkers, the earthquake renewed concern about the city’s vulnerability to natural disasters. The city adopted earthquake safety provisions in its building code nearly 30 years ago, but they did not apply to buildings that were, er, constructed prior to 1995.(For reference, the median age of buildings in New York City is 90 years old.)

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In 2006, a Slate report on the city’s possible earthquakin’ future was even more dire, noting that lack of preparedness was a major problem:

Perhaps the most vulnerable place in the nation right now is New York City, which turns out to be the third-most seismically active region east of the Mississippi. Geologists estimate a 20 percent to 40 percent chance of a significant earthquake in the next 50 years in New York, and they make a special point to say that a majorquake is also a real possibility. New Yorkers don’t worry about earthquakes, but we should—particularly those of us who own property here.

Well, that’s kind of scary. 

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Yes. But of course, the anxiety around possible infrastructure failures did not preclude users online from reacting to the tectonic event with a flurry of cathartic memes and jokes. (I mean, did it really happen if there were no jokes?)

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One person on X wrote, mimicking the voice of Sex and the Citycharacter Carrie Bradshaw, “as a 4.7 magnitude earthquake hit manhattan i couldn’t help but wonder…was my relationship with big structurally sound enough to withstand the impact?”

Another joked about the description of the earthquake reflecting New Yorkers’ flippance to their neighbors across the Hudson: “ ‘West of Manhattan’ is the New Yorkiest possible way to refer to New Jersey.”

Nice! A New Jersey joke. Any other tweets worth seeing?

Oh yes.

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Does anyone have eyes on Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan

— Olive Leatherwood (@pleatherwood) April 5, 2024

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New Yorkers retelling how they survived the earthquake pic.twitter.com/1aVKmqPh5w

— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) April 5, 2024

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Did……….Harlem shake?

— Kakarot🇹🇹 (@StevieKnicks21) April 5, 2024

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pic.twitter.com/IOehndUbGz

— E. Alex Jung (probably) (@e_alexjung) April 5, 2024

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did we shake or were we shook? #earthquake pic.twitter.com/JkJPkTkN2h

— Christopher Ryan (@Creezus_) April 5, 2024

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this is the fastest merch turnaround I've ever seen in my life pic.twitter.com/Y06Pl36g58

— america's lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) April 5, 2024

And, if you know, you know:

I’ve always said New York City is the San Andreas of America pic.twitter.com/o65SEyfct4

— Brendan Farrell (@Bren_Farrell) April 5, 2024

OK, sorry one more Eric Adams joke for the road:

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Eric Adams about to send 500,000 cops to the earth’s core.

— Kazembe Balagun (@Bronxbanlieue) April 5, 2024

Across the country, Los Angelenos and other West Coasters—who routinely experience this scale of earthquake—are yawning at news of their “culture” being appropriated. One unimpressed person wryly wrote, “I was born in Los Angeles on a morning of an earthquake many years ago. A 4.8 earthquake in LA would barely raise an eyebrow.”

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• Climate Change
• Earthquakes
• New York City
• New York
• Nature
• New Jersey

(责任编辑：行业动态)