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A new study from Columbia University's Earth Institute says there is a "substantially greater" risk for an earthquake in the NYC area than previously thought. Per LiveScience, "A pattern of subtle but active faults is known to exist in the region, and now new faults have been found. The scientists say that among other things, the Indian Point nuclear power plants, 24 miles north of the city, sit astride the previously unidentified intersection of two active seismic zones. ."
While large earthquakes in the 6 or 7 magnitude range are rare (7 magnitude earthquakes come every 3,400 years), the fact is it's unclear when the last big one hit. John Armbruster from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said, "Today, with so many more buildings and people, a magnitude 5 centered below the city would be extremely attention-getting. We'd see billions in damage, with some brick buildings falling. People would probably be killed."
The NYC Office of Emergency Management says earthquakes are "uncommon in NYC, [but] tremors occasionally occur." Here's a list of the biggest earthquakes in the NYC area--the most recent were 2.6 magnitude tremors felt on the UWS of Manhattan and in Queens. And a fun fact: WNBC anchor Chuck Scarborough wrote a disaster novel called "Aftershock: Earthquake in New York" that was made into a made-for-TV movie starring, among others, Jennifer Garner, Tom Skerritt, Erika Eleniak, Charles S. Dutton and Cicely Tyson.
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being from California I say bring it. Dem no worry me.
I'm afraid 90% of the buildings will turn into gristle. And the death toll...
@#1: I lived in California too. Ever notice how stable and well-constructed the buildings are there? That was why I never worried too horribly about earthquakes. But here? Half the buildings would blow over in a stiff breeze, much less an earthquake. I can't even imagine what the death toll would be when large sections of old apartment buildings collapsed. Which they would.
that would suck.
Whose fault is it anyway that these faults aren't being taken care of? It's OEM's job to protect us from these types of catastrophes. Get the commisioner on the line whoever he might be.
I like the warning "People would probably be killed." No shit Sherlock. I bet some people would get boo boos also. I guess they have the weekend shift working so that accounts for the valuable quote.
New New York City buildings are built with an earthquake code. The seismic danger here has always been known, just not the magnitude from this. However, the old buildings, especially
things like brownstones and converted-masonry-lofts could
be screwed:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol20/vol20_iss19/record2019.18.html
I would not want to be in the subway when this happens.
I don't understand. My 8th grade earth science teacher -- 16 years ago -- told us that the Indian Point power plant is built ON a fault line.
Given the number of faultlines criss-crossing the U.S., pretty much every community should have a suitable earthquake code. What would be tough for NYC would be the bracing and retrofitting of historic structures...that gets expensive.
I think one is more likely to be shot with a frozen paintball than die or be injured in an eathquake in NYC. OR hit by a falling crane, or falling glass, construction material, stabbed in the chest, hit by a car while riding your bike in NYC bike lanes, slip and fall cracking your head open on a frozen NYC sidewalk, being shot by police while brandishing a hair brush...and the list goes on.
#5 Said:
You are kidding, right?
A huge number of brick and mortar structures would fall or be severely damaged, as would a number of the McSkyscrapers that have been going up in the past 7 or 8 years.
The historic sky scrapers in the city, such as the Empire State Building, Woolworth Building, etc. would fare somewhat better. Old as they might be, they were substantially overengineered and would endure a quake well enough to keep the occupants safe.
Anyone walking on a sidewalk is fair game, as this is where most of the facades will end up when they fall off their respective buildings.
The bridges should be ok.
Co-op city would be an interesting case. While it's a well known fact that the entire area has been slowly sinking into silt it was developed on for years, a strong enough earthquake can easily liquify sand, wet or not. Ever wonder what would happen if you dropped a building into quicksand? Yeah, I'd rather read about it, too.
The most worrisome part of all of this, IMO, is Indian Point, up in Buchanan, NY. Just shy of 50 miles north of downtown Manhattan, the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant (yes, the one that's always in the news for all the wrong reasons), just happens to sit on one of the fault lines in question. The fact that another fault line intersects that known one... well, that's just awesome. Indian Point doesn't happen to have the greatest track record for safety, both publically and witnin the industry in general, so I could only imagine the great things that would transpire should a large enough quake damage one of the two reactors there.
I don't know about you guys, but Iodine tablets are in my ready bag.