Rare New York City earthquake highlights concerns about infrastructure

Infrastructure in the United States has always been a sore topic, but when a 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck the New York City area on Friday, many people rightly worried about the structural integrity of the bridges, tunnels and surrounding buildings.

The epicenter of the earthquake was near Whitehouse Station in New Jersey, but people in neighboring states, including New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, were still feeling the tremor, which lasted for a short time. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake falls at the lower end of the Richter scale, and its effects are described as likely to cause windows to break or small objects to fall.

But experts say the relatively minor earthquake is nothing to worry about. “When you look at this, in terms of this scale, it's a very simple event,” Majid Iskandar, professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering at New York University, tells The Verge. “I expect and would probably be willing to bet that there will be no significant negative impacts on any major infrastructure in New York City.”

During a press conference on Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that there had been no “reports of significant impacts to our infrastructure or injuries.” Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont similarly stated that crews found no damage to roads, bridges or railways. Despite the moderate effects of this earthquake, it is still routine for cities and states to conduct inspections of local bridges and tunnels to measure any potential damage.

“Given the heightened awareness of bridges and their fragility since last week, I expect a lot of awareness around inspections,” Douglas Schmucker, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Utah, tells The Verge. “People are nervous.” Shortly after the quake, New Jersey Transit warned commuters of delays of up to 20 minutes due to bridge inspections. Meanwhile, both Amtrak and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which oversees the New York City subway, have conducted inspections of its tracks.

“Initial inspections of all facilities have been completed and other preliminary inspections are underway,” MTA CEO Jano Lieber said during a news conference on Friday. “The seven bridges operated by the MTA have been inspected and I want to emphasize that they are designed to withstand much stronger seismic impacts than we experienced today.”

On Wednesday, Taiwan was hit by a much stronger 7.4-magnitude earthquake, causing rockslides that damaged highways and blocked tunnels across the country. That's a far cry from what New Jersey and surrounding areas have experienced today, but it may still serve as a wake-up call for city officials to make sure their infrastructure can handle earthquakes — especially in the Northeast, where earthquakes occur less frequently and seismic waves can travel farther.

Because the rocks are older in the Northeast, they are often harder and denser, according to the USGS. The faults there also had more time to heal, making it easier for seismic waves to travel during an earthquake. “Not only should we talk about earthquakes in the city, but events coming from neighboring states may affect us,” Hu Ling, a professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia University, tells The Verge. “Given the risk of a moderate earthquake in New York City, we must always be prepared.”

New York City implemented earthquake-specific building codes in the 1990s. But, as Boris Haida, managing director at engineering consultancy De Simone, points out, the designs of most buildings in the region are “controlled by hurricanes or northeasterly wind loads” rather than earthquakes. However, Haida points out, “If a building is properly designed to receive wind, it should fare well during an earthquake.”

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