2024-04-05 19:30:23
Bridges collapse, the earth shakes, the sun sets. You don’t have to live in the capital of conspiracies to see divine and apocalyptic signs in the succession of phenomena that are being experienced in the United States in just over a week. Particularly after the largest earthquake of the century occurred in the region, on the eve of a total eclipse.
The 4.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the Manhattan skyscrapers this Friday had its epicenter in Lebanon, but not in the country that shares a border with Israel, but in a small town of 1,600 people in New Jersey, eighty kilometers from New York . There the dishes fell to the ground in pieces and its inhabitants took to the streets in terror, unable to compete with the prominence of New York.
EarthCam captured the moment a 4.8-magnitude earthquake recorded in New Jersey shook residents in surrounding states and New York City on Friday morning. The earthquake was the strongest in NJ since 1884. pic.twitter.com/cKXmXqmxtW
— EarthCam (@EarthCam) April 5, 2024
In the 38-story skyscraper that houses the UN headquarters, the Security Council had met urgently following the attack against the World Central Kitchen convoy, which has brought the death of 196 humanitarian workers to the spotlight. during the bombings of Gaza. While the CEO of Save The Children, Janti Soeripto, explained that the children of Gaza cannot even take refuge in schools because 80% have been destroyed, the cameras recorded the shaking and the worried looks of the ambassadors. “You are shaking the earth,” observed Palestinian representative Ryad Mansour.
Each one interpreted it in their own way. The Israelis said in Hollywood movies provided sci-fi clips to loop on social media with images of the ground cracking in New York, possibly the most filmed city in history. And, of course, there were those who claimed that all this earthquake talk was fake news. “I haven’t felt anything,” said an anonymous person on the networks.
The authorities took it very seriously. Airports suspended all ground activities and the one closest to the epicenter, Newark, did not reopen until after 10:00 p.m., with nearly 2,000 flights canceled in the region. The railway company Amtrak reported that each and every one of its trains in that corridor would have to be inspected, so in the meantime they would circulate at low speed. The suburban train that transports nearly five million passengers daily continued its course, as Mayor Eric Adams asked the citizens.
In the end there was no damage to regret. It had only lasted 30 seconds and if it was felt more virulently it was because it had been more superficial than other earthquakes, which originate up to 70 kilometers inside the earth. In comparison, the one that shook Taiwan three days ago registered 7.2 on the scale, leaving at least 12 dead, a thousand injured and numerous damages. In California, where earthquakes are frequent, it would not have made headlines, but on the East Coast it was the largest since 2011, when Virginia recorded one of 5.9.
For it to feel strong in New York, you have to look for the antecedents in 1783. The aftershocks sounded the alarms throughout the day, with one of the strongest being 2.0 in Bedminster, the New Jersey city where Donald Trump has his golf course and summer residence, which gave rise to another string of jokes and conspiracies.
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