[Seismology] Earthquakes May Endanger New York More Than Thought, Says Study
Columbia Earth Institute News
Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant Seen As Particular Risk
Abstract:
The authors compiled a catalog of all 383 known earthquakes from 1677 to 2007 in a 15,000-square-mile area around New York City. Coauthor John Armbruster estimated sizes and locations of dozens of events before 1930 by combing newspaper accounts and other records. The researchers say magnitude 5 quakes—strong enough to cause damage--occurred in 1737, 1783 and 1884. There was little settlement around to be hurt by the first two quakes, whose locations are vague due to a lack of good accounts; but the last, thought to be centered under the seabed somewhere between Brooklyn and Sandy Hook, toppled chimneys across the city and New Jersey, and panicked bathers at Coney Island. Based on this, the researchers say such quakes should be routinely expected, on average, about every 100 years. “Today, with so many more buildings and people, a magnitude 5 centered below the city would be extremely attention-getting,” said Armbruster. “We’d see billions in damage, with some brick buildings falling. People would probably be killed.”
Complete article: earth.columbia.edu
The Paper:
"Observations and Tectonic Setting of Historic and Instrumentally Located Earthquakes in the Greater NY City–Philadelphia Area"
By Lynn R. Sykes, John G. Armbruster, Won-Young Kim, and Leonardo Seeber
earth.columbia.edu
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