Earthquake hits the East Coast

So there was an earthquake today on the East Coast.  The epicenter was in Mineral, VA, but it could be felt as far away as Washington DC, NYC, Ohio, and North Carolina.  I'm a native New Yorker and I didn't feel a thing.  It could be that I was walking around at the time...moving friskly...with a friend in Queens at the time NYC felt the quake.  I feel cheated that I missed out on it.  However, I did feel an earthquake in Southern California back in 2000.  It felt like a large truck was barreling down the street.  So I have experienced an earthquake, just not in my hometown.

The Earthquake was recorded at 5.8 magnitude, 3.7 miles deep.  Another reason why I may have not felt the earthquake was because I was walking on street level.  A lot of people in the subways and on the streets didn't all feel the earthquake.  However, people in buildings on higher floors did feel the earthquake for a good 20 seconds.

I didn't even know there was an earthquake until someone called me and asked me if I was alright.  So I turned on the news and watched as New Yorkers seemed panicked.  They kept showing a news clip of Manhattan District Attorney, Cy Vance's press conference.  He was giving a statement when people started getting up and leaving the room.  He tried to assuage their fears and told them he lived in Seattle and experienced earthquakes like this before and they shouldn't be alarmed.

Apparently, it was Manhattan that was affected the most.  Many buildings were evacuated.  A lot of people went on to the streets and left work early.  Mayor Bloomberg gave a press conference and basically said we were very lucky that there wasn't any significant damage.  He did mention that there was a partially collapsed chimney in Brooklyn, but responders were sent there to inspect and investigate.  I also went online and read articles about the earthquake.  I discovered that a NYC building on 125th Street and 7th Avenue was evacuated and cordoned off because it has a major crack in it, as can be seen in the photo up top.

My major concern when I heard about the earthquake was transportation.  I was worried bridges and tunnels and the subway were affected.  They did close the tunnels for a bit.  And they sent responders to inspect all bridges.  Everything looks structurally sound.  I'm glad to report the subway appears undamaged, but in the back of my head I keep thinking, next week I could be on an underground subway and part of the tunnel will collapse on top of my car.  hehe.  I mean I'm not sure how they can check that there's no damage in underground subways.  But I do hope they check thoroughly.

Supposedly the last major earthquake in NYC of this magnitude was back in the 1880s.  A Columbia University Seismologist, Won-Young Kim, stated back this past February that NY was long overdue for an earthquake.  Freaky.  But then again, that's Columbia University for you =)

My thoughts and prayers with the people who were truly affected by this earthquake (NYC just got aftershocks), especially those in Virginia.  Damage in that area was obviously more significant.  

I guess NYC made such a big deal about earthquakes because we're not known for them like California.  I read articles about West Coast people making fun of East Coast people.  One person said, "We have 5.8 for breakfast." lol.

So NYC has to better prepare and equip itself for earthquakes too.  I'm just glad it wasn't worse.  And I still feel cheated I didn't feel it.  hehe