History says New York is earthquake prone
Friday, 18 March 2011 - 9:23pm IST | Place: NEW YORK | Agency: ANI
If
the past is any indication, New York can be hit by an earthquake,
claims John Armbruster, a seismologist at Columbia University's
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
According to the New York Daily News,
Lynn Skyes, lead author of a recent study by seismologists at the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory adds that a magnitude-6 quake hits the
area about every 670 years, and magnitude-7 every 3,400 years.
A 5.2-magnitude quake shook New York City in 1737 and another of the same severity hit in 1884.
Tremors were felt from Maine to Virginia.
"The problem here comes from many subtle faults," explained Skyes after the study was published.
He
adds: "We now see there is earthquake activity on them. Each one is
small, but when you add them up, they are probably more dangerous than
we thought."
Armbruster
says a 5.0-magnitude earthquake today likely would result in casualties
and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
"I would expect some people to be killed," he notes.
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