According to the USFS, the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.8 and its epicenter was near Lebanon, New Jersey, about 40 miles west of New York. Towards evening, people felt an aftershock with a magnitude of 4.0. Looking at historical ESGS statistical data, this was the strongest earthquake to hit the Northeast in over a decade, although this magnitude in fact indicates a very moderate shaking force.
“It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced,” MSNBC quotes James Pittinger, the mayor of Lebanon, although, according to him, there have been no reports of any significant damage. The most that residents of the town straight near the epicenter had to deal with was broken dishes, things falling from shelves or frightened pets. But the stress still existed, and it was necessary to deal with it. Preferably, as wittily as possible.
As we can see, people from the East Coast are massively sharing photos of fallen glasses and vases, spilled coffee and even - horror of horrors! - fallen houseplants. It seems that the main hashtag of this earthquake has become #wewillrebuild, and all its witnesses will tell their grandkids decades later how they survived the Great East Coast Quake. Unless, of course, something much more serious happens in the future...
In fact, many of us have similar stories - for example, the last time there was an earthquake in our area (it was a magnitude 5), I was about 13 and I was just sitting on the toilet, sorry for the details. Someone may say - “Commendable forethought!”, but I will admit that at that time I had a disgusting habit of tapping the walls of the toilet with a plunger (for which my grandma scolded me heavily) - and imagine my surprise when, after the next blow to the wall, all the ground suddenly responded with a heavy roar... I didn’t knock on the walls anymore. Never in my entire life...
Well, the ability to laugh at oneself and at the stress experienced is already a reason to say that we have coped with the problem. And overturned trash cans and spilled coffee - damn it, we can handle anything! As long as we laugh in the face of troubles, we are invincible! So please feel free to scroll this list to its very end, and let us know if you also have experienced anything similar these days.
