Earthquake in New York
An earthquake hit the New York area.
Initial details attributed it to a magnitude 5.5 earthquake, but that figure was later lowered to 4.7 by the USGS. It’s a moderate size overall but very unusual for a city that doesn’t really experience earthquakes. The largest known earthquake in this region occurred in 1884 and had an estimated magnitude of around 5.0.
The center of the earthquake was about 20 miles (30 km) west of North Plainfield, New Jersey, or near Lebanon, New Jersey. Tremors were felt a great distance from the area, but initial reports of damage were minimal.
This follows a major 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Taiwan earlier this week. It was the largest earthquake in 25 years and caused significant damage. The magnitude scale of earthquakes is logarithmic, meaning that the Taiwan earthquake was 400 times more powerful and released 8,000 times more energy.
An earthquake of this magnitude is not unthinkable in New York, however, and the city is certainly not built for it. A 2008 study by Columbia University found that the New York area was at “significantly higher” risk of a magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake than previously thought.
The last notable earthquake on the East Coast was a 5.8 magnitude quake in Virginia. It caused no deaths and only minor injuries, but was felt as far away as northern Canada.
This isn’t going to change the market, but markets certainly move by coincidence, with gold jumping $30 to hit a new record high at $2,317.
The U.S. dollar rose earlier in the day following a strong nonfarm payrolls report, but has weakened a bit over the past hour or so as risk trading broadly increases. This is a reversal of yesterday’s decision, triggered by fears of an Iran-Israel war.
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