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CNN International: 4.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Northeastern U.S.; New York City Mayor To Address Public After Earthquake; Minutes Away: New York Governor To Hold Briefing. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired April 05, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: We want to get straight to some breaking news. Right now, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hitting New Jersey and could be felt in the city of New York City. That quake hit just about 20 minutes ago and is set to be shallow in nature, as we look at these live pictures of New York City now. Just getting some new details from the USGS, saying that about 23 million people felt some light shaking. That's what most people felt. Close to 300,000 people felt moderate shaking, moderate being strong enough to break windows or cause dishes to fall, and 9,000 people felt strong shaking.
Let's check in now CNN's Jason Carroll, who is following the latest on all of this. Jason, I guess it goes without saying, New York not exactly a place that frequently experiences earthquakes. What else can you share with us?
JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're absolutely right. So, you can probably guess as to why many of us second guessed ourselves when we felt it, myself being one of them, here in Hudson Yards. And for folks who aren't familiar with that, it's a huge sort of complex located on the west side of Manhattan. The newsroom is on the 18th floor. And when the ground started shaking, some of us felt it. I felt it. My computer started moving ever so slightly. And I thought to myself, are we having an earthquake? I'm from California. So, I'm accustomed to feeling earthquakes.
But it's not something you're accustomed to feeling in a place like New York City. Again, magnitude, we're now hearing, 4.8. It happened at approximately 10:20. The shaking ever so slightly, from my vantage point, for several seconds. The mayor says that they are doing an assessment to see if there are any reports of any damage coming in from the city. So far, no reports of any damage. The impact apparently was felt throughout the tri-state area. So, it was felt not only in places like Manhattan, but also felt in New Jersey, felt in Connecticut, the State of Connecticut, as well.
The Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, released the following statement, saying in part, "My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day." That's what she posted on X a short while ago. But again, you can imagine how many of us felt here in New York. And there were several years ago when we felt another earthquake here in New York City. But, this one definitely had more impact seemingly on more people here.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And Jason, I'm not sure if you just heard my phone make that loud noise there. But, I just wanted to explain --
CARROLL: I did.
SOLOMON: -- I want to explain for our viewers what exactly was happening. So, I got an alert on my phone, an emergency alert, and I just want to read it. It just says a 4.7 magnitude earthquake, which obviously you just updated, has occurred in the New York City area. Residents are advised to remain indoors and to call 911 if injured. So, of course, we continue to follow that.
Jason, any sense of sort of how far this may have been felt? I think I heard you say that folks in Philadelphia, that's my hometown, my family is there, that's about 100 miles south of New York, any sense of how far this stretched?
CARROLL: Right. Well, we are getting reports that folks there in Philadelphia may have felt some -- a bit of shaking as well. We've already heard from some of our colleagues, way out on the eastern shore of Long Island. They say that they felt some pretty heavy shaking there. Again, keeping that in perspective, when I say pretty heavy shaking, remember, these are folks who are not accustomed to feeling earthquakes because if you are at a place like California, a four point -- a magnitude 4.7, 4.8 would -- it's just sort of like an everyday occurrence. Not the case here.
So, again, feeling it out in places like Long Island, feeling it here and Manhattan, some folks feeling it out in Connecticut as well, and definitely feeling it in New Jersey. So, felt over a wide area. That is for sure. But again, the good news is not getting any reports at this point of have any major or significant damage.
SOLOMON: OK. Jason Carroll, we will let you continue to news gather, certainly not the story you were expecting to cover today. But, that is the life of a newsperson, of a journalist. You never know what you're going to be covering. Jason Carroll, good to have you. Thank you.
CARROLL: You bet.
SOLOMON: All right. I want to welcome in now Richard Roth, who joins me on the phone as well. Richard, if you can share with our audience and with me where exactly you are and what your experience was.
[11:05:00]
VOICE OF RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: That's an excellent question. And full disclosure, I was in the bathroom and I could feel this little shaking. But, as friends of mine know that I live in the heart of Manhattan, in a poorly constructed large apartment building, and I felt that it could have been a truck going by. Then I heard a newspaper or I didn't know what it was, something had fallen in the other room. And it turned out to be a newspaper, which I have many in my apartment. But, I thought, boy, I not have gone to the owners, the managers of this building with many complaints over the years. I said, well, maybe I'll mention it to them because this could get alarming in the future. And it wasn't until I checked my device to see that it was an earthquake.
SOLOMON: Yeah.
VOICE OF ROTH: But, I definitely could feel it. We've all heard these stories about large apartment buildings breaking down in recent years. So, I know this building was constructed during a big construction workers union strike, but you definitely felt it. But, no injuries.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And I should say, I mean, I live in New Jersey, certainly not a high rise in New Jersey, but I also got a notice from our property manager saying that, yes, that trembling was in fact an earthquake, and advising people to meet outside, if they wish.
Richard, if I may, if you can go to the window and just let me know what you see on the streets. I'm just curious if sort of New Yorkers have gone about their business as usual, New Yorkers are a strong bunch, or if people are actually gathering as they try to assess what just happened.
VOICE OF ROTH: Yes. I was wondering about that, but I had not gone to look outside. I see normal, normal, normal. There are four police cars outside, but that's due to protection of the local -- one of the local synagogues. No. You could not tell that anything that happened. But, for New Yorkers, it gives them something to talk about when they get an elevator with a stranger, other than the weather. And of course, we've endured a lot of things here, blackouts, murders. Everyone has a story in New York. This will be, I'm sure, we can conversation.
SOLOMON: Oh, and I have to imagine people traveling sort of on transit must have been feeling. It's almost sort of one of those things depending on where you were, that maybe you didn't even realize that what you felt was in fact an earthquake.
Richard, how long have you lived in Manhattan, and have you experienced anything like this before, even if you've lived in maybe other parts of the country that are more prone to earthquakes?
VOICE OF ROTH: Well, I've been here off and on, I think 41 years. I think I felt the quake when we were covering the Dominique Strauss- Kahn court matter. My producer and I often talk about that. But, we didn't feel it that much. Apparently, the managers thought the whole Lower Manhattan was falling down, which we had to assure them that that was not happening. But, New York, it all happens here. It's almost gets to be a cliche. You have to be alert. And I think a lot of people might have thought, was that my stomach? Was that just the way the steps just went? You could dismiss it. And I'm sure some people will be saying later today, oh, that's what that was.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I was sort of wondering, was that my stomach grumbling? Should I have had breakfast, as we wait to hear sort of what really what the extent of the damage was, if any, in New York and New Jersey. Richard Roth, thanks so much for hopping on the phone and giving us your perspective.
Let's now go to Elisa Raffa at the weather center to give us a better sense of what exactly happened and who felt it.
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A lot of people did, I can tell you that, Rahel. Actually, looking at -- at least 9,000 people felt some strong shaking, but more than 23 million people felt light shaking, and this is the most populous city in the country, and they're all shook, literally and figuratively, because this area is just not prone to earthquakes. 4.8 magnitude there, just after 10:20 this morning, pretty shallow, only five kilometers deep, which is why a lot of people can feel it if it's not that deep. And we know that people have felt it down in New Jersey into -- some people even felt it in Baltimore and Philadelphia, even going up into Connecticut.
So, pretty wide range of impacts as far as it being felt. No word yet on any damage. And a magnitude like this typically wouldn't do as much damage. But, it's just incredible, because earlier this week, we were talking about that earthquake in Taiwan, and that's an area that's prone to things like this. Right? It's got a lot of seismic activity because it sits right on the ring of fire. All those fault lines right there, the volcanoes, that's a prime spot. This is not that. This is not that common here. So, it's pretty rare. People don't feel earthquakes in New York. It's not like California on the West Coast of the U.S. where we have more of those fault lines and the seismic activity from Alaska back down into California.
So again, just incredibly rare. It doesn't happen all the time. And when it does, people can really just kind of feel that. I know from relatives and family and friends that they felt shaking and dishes were kind of moving.
[11:10:00]
People were driving and felt those impacts in the city. There is the kind of heart, the epicenter there in New Jersey, and then this is showing where people felt it. Right? So, most of it, some weak shaking, but again, gets out to pretty far as far as mileages go out from that epicenter. And it is a shallow earthquake. That's why we can feel it. It didn't go that far down into the Earth's surface when it's deeper. That's when it can be harder to feel. But, this one was pretty shallow, which is why people are feeling it.
As far as economic losses, again, this is a mainly green, showing good, like good sign. We're not looking at massive widespread destruction from something like this. But, what we are looking at is just a lot of people frazzled. This is just so rare for New York City. And all those millions of people there, it's just not an area that gets earthquakes like this. So, while we're looking at light impacts, economically and damage and things like that, we haven't had too many reports of that. We do have almost high impact on people getting rattled. We just know that it's just not that common around here. You don't see earthquakes like this. And they can be far reaching and be felt pretty -- for large distances away from the epicenter.
Like I said, we've got people that have been reported some shaky from D.C. and Philly, which is forced south down, I-95, and then up the other way, up I-95, up into Connecticut as well feeling some of the shaking. And I know from some family telling me that they were watching things moving and feeling the shake, and everybody is like, what is that, because it just doesn't happen that often in this part of the country. So, definitely waking some people up here on this Friday morning there, Rahel. Just incredible to see an earthquake like this and then how rare it is for this area. But, like I mentioned, not really finding too much in the way of impacts or damage or anything like that at least so far.
SOLOMON: Yeah. That is the good news, though. Elisa, don't go far. I just want to recap for our audience watching at home what exactly we're following here. So, authorities now reporting a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hitting the northeast part of the U.S., from as far north as Connecticut, as our meteorologist Elisa Raffa just pointed out there, to as far south as Washington, D.C. For international audience, Washington, D.C. is maybe 200 miles south of New York, Connecticut maybe 50, 100 miles as well. So, we're talking about a pretty decent sort of swath of land here in terms of how people felt this.
Well, the USGS reporting that more than 23 million people felt light shaking. This is what can cause perhaps cars to rock noticeably, can cause a sensation like a truck striking a building. That's light shaking. So, about 23 million people felt that. 300,000 people felt what's considered more moderate shaking, and this is what's strong enough to break a window or perhaps cause dishes to fall. And then, 9,000 people felt strong shaking, and this is shaking that could move heavy furniture. This is shaking that could cause slight damage. This earthquake happening within the last hour or so, maybe last 30 minutes or 45 minutes.
Those of us here who were based in New York at CNN's Hudson Yards location, we certainly felt it. I did not feel it. I was working and preparing for the show. I did not feel it. But, my colleagues, all sort of came out to the hallway. We all sort of talked about what just happened, because New York is not an area where we are prone to earthquakes. And so, I imagine, I certainly didn't think that an earthquake was the first thing that came to mind. And so, I imagine some people might not have been exactly sure what that shaking was.
But, again, authorities confirming a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hitting the Northeastern U.S. Folks feeling shaking as far north as Connecticut, maybe even farther, but we know at least Connecticut, and as far south as Washington, D.C. are still waiting to assess sort of what the damage could be like if anyone, of course, was hurt. But, it's early days, because as I said, this just happened within the last 30 or 45 minutes or so.
Let me bring back in CNN's Elisa Raffa, who was with us now. Elisa, can you just sort of give us a sense, if we step back, what exactly causes earthquakes? What what's behind this?
RAFFA: Yeah. So, our Earth is really cool. It's not one big flat piece of land. Right? It's in a lot of pieces. We call them tectonic plates. And there is a lot of really cool research about how these plates were all once connected and now kind of have drifted and separated over millions and millions in years, and that's kind of where we have our continents where they're at right now. So, because these are kind of -- they do move all the time, right, and we don't notice it. But, because we've got that moving, sometimes they can bump into each other, and sometimes they can crash, and sometimes they can slide, and sometimes if it crashes or bumps or slides big enough, that's when you feel the earthquakes.
[11:15:00]
Now, again, this area is not really prone to this. We find more of that moving and shaking over areas that are seismic zones, right, where those big plates really meet up against each other and really crash and collide. That's actually how a lot of volcanoes and mountains has formed. When you get to these big plates that kind of collide together, that's where we get a lot of our mountainous regions as well. So -- again, this area doesn't quite see that seismic activity like this, which is why it's such a big deal for people in New York, because like you said, you and your colleagues, what was that? You just don't expect it to be an earthquake in New York. You almost expect that on the West Coast.
We have a seismic activity that is more, much, much, much more common from Alaska, down to California, where you've got more of the volcanoes, more of the seismic activity, the fault lines, all of that, where it's much, much more common. This just isn't quite set up the same way. But, of course, it can still happen in these rare circumstances. And I wanted to mention too, as meteorologists, we can predict the weather. Right? We have the ability to model the sky in the atmosphere. We can send instruments into the sky so we can read the data of temperature and pressure and wind and all those things. So, we can put it into computer models to forecast. We don't have that capability with earthquakes. It's hard to see what's going on in the ground. It is hard to see that, and we can't model it and predict it the way we can the weather.
So, it really can catch people off guard, especially in an area like this, where it's just really not that common, 4.8 magnitude shortly after about 10:20 this morning, pretty shallow in depth, only about five kilometers or two miles, which is pretty shallow, which is why people have been able to feel it. And the shaking has been felt just so far wide, ranging down from Baltimore to D.C., up into Connecticut, seeing reports of the shaking, of course, people in New York City. Even my family is in New York. That's where I was born and raised. And my mom was calling me, telling me that things were kind of shaking and falling off, shelves for some of her friends. Everybody just feeling it and having that jolted reaction of, what was that, because you just don't expect that to be an earthquake in New York City.
Shallow again. It wasn't really all that deep, which is kind of why more people can feel it. When it's deeper and you're further away from it, it can be harder to feel. So, that's why just a lot of people were able to feel this. We're also looking at it being on the green side as far as economic losses. So, something like this of this magnitude wouldn't cause widespread damage. It is causing widespread confusion. People will be like, what is this? But, again, it's just something that we just don't typically see.
And I just think it is remarkable coming off of coverage that we just did earlier this week from Taiwan, where you had a seven point magnitude earthquake that caused significant damage, just seeing the differences here, because the scale for the earthquakes is logarithmic. Sorry. It's a difficult word to say. But, it's basically meaning that it changes exponentially. Right? The change isn't linear. So, it gets increasingly severe as you go higher up in the scale. So, for something like this, with it being kind of moderate on the scale, you just don't get the impacts like you do with that bigger quake that we saw in Taiwan. And again, that area is just so much more prone to it. This is just leaving a lot of New Yorkers really confused on your Friday with all of that shaking, and it was felt for miles and miles, all the way down I-95 --
Q; Yeah. And Elissa --
RAFFA: -- down to Philadelphia and Baltimore.
SOLOMON: Yeah. No. For sure. I mean, Philly is certainly my hometown. I have a lot of questions from my mom. Hopefully, all of my family is OK. I know you've been checking in with your family as well.
Elisa, I want to play for you a clip. This is a video sent to us from a coffee shop in Boonton. New Jersey. Boonton is about 30 miles northwest of New York. So, not far from New York. Take a look at this video, and let's talk about on the other side, Elisa.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
SOLOMON: So, you hear the commotion there, one. I mean, you see people walking outside, presumably as they tried to understand, did you guys all feel what we felt? I mean, is everybody sort of experiencing what we just experienced, which is understandable. But, you also heard what appears to be glasses shaking there in this coffee shop, again, in Boonton, New Jersey, which is about 30 miles away from New York City.
Elisa, any other sort of takeaways as you watch this video. Again, we should say, at this point, we don't have a sense that there is damage or that there -- anyone was hurt.
[11:20:00]
But, this is an area where we are not prone to earthquakes. And so, it could potentially cause some alarm or at the very least startle people who are on a Friday morning enjoying their coffee in New Jersey, and then suddenly hear this shaking, suddenly feel the shaking and wonder, what just happened? Was that an earthquake?
RAFFA: Yeah. Definitely startling, and that's kind of what I see there in that video where you get the initial shaking. You see it kind of tossing things around, and then you see the people reacting. You see them kind of going outside to see what was that. I heard someone, they were interviewing on another CNN network, saying they thought it was like a truck ran by. So, definitely a lot of confusion, I think, is what most people are describing in New York.
Like I said, I know I got that from my family. And they know, me, the meteorologist and the science expert. And my phone has been going crazy with all the family being like, what was that? But, yeah, you could see some of that shaking, and that's what I was talking about too about the magnitude, where it's significant enough to feel the shaking. But, we are not looking at something as extensive as we did earlier in the week.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I just want to, for our viewers, a few updates here. So, we have heard down from the New York City Mayor Eric Adams that he is planning a press conference at 12 noon. So, a little bit more than half an hour. We will, of course, continue to follow that and bring you any updates there. And the New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said that her team is assessing the impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and her team will also provide an update to the public throughout the day. So, we're going to continue to follow this story, continue to watch this story. But, in the meantime, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. We continue to follow the news of a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hitting the Northeastern region of the United States, as far north as Connecticut as far as we know, and as far south as Washington, D.C. For our international audience, that spans hundreds of miles. That includes other major cities like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
I want to get to Polo Sandoval now, who is live for us out on the street in New York City. Polo, walk us through sort of what people have been telling you, what you're hearing, and perhaps what you felt.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's interesting is the reaction is quite mixed, Rahel. I've been speaking to New Yorkers and tourists here on the streets and the reactions make some people certainly felt it, while others, including myself, really didn't feel much. In my case, I was actually stepping off a New York City subway train when it reportedly happened. The U.S. Geological Survey, though, confirming that whether you felt that or not, it certainly happened. So far, preliminary indication is that this is a 4.7 magnitude earthquake at about 10:30 this morning local time that shook the region, affecting millions of people.
Now, the NYPD, New York City officials confirming that thus far they have received no reports of any injuries, also no reports of any damage either. But, just to give you a sense of what it's like on the streets of New York on this Friday morning, you can see it really is business as usual, but people are certainly talking about it.
[11:25:00]
Now, in terms of how many people likely felt this, this is important, USGS officials estimating that some 23 million people likely felt what's been described as light shaking, while at least 9,000 individuals likely felt what's described as -- by officials as strong shaking. That's enough to actually move heavy furniture. I have some relatives in Brooklyn and they told me that they actually did feel some shaking this morning, even felt the need to evacuate their building. So, that certainly feeds, at least tells you about the concerns since this is something that is not often felt in this particular part of the country.
But, in the meantime, again, we do expect to hear from New York City officials in the next few minutes or so to get a full update. But, at last check, authorities confirming that there was no damage, no injuries, but definitely plenty of talk about the events of this morning. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah, I along with you, Polo, did not feel it. I was inside of our New York City Hudson Yards location, which doesn't appear like it's too far from where you are, but I did not feel it. And some of our colleagues did feel it and they came out and it was -- I sort of joked that it was a bonding experience because we were all sort of living through this together, not really realizing that it had been an earthquake, and a 4.8 magnitude earthquake at that, something that New Yorkers are not likely really used to.
SANDOVAL: Interesting note here, Rahel, before you came to us, we went up to speak to a family that was visiting from Belgium. They were actually on the edge, that very popular observation deck that's well over 300 meters above the street here. They were on that platform, they told me. And initially, they said that that observation, that's like it's one of the highest in the world, tallest in the world, started wobbling like this. A mom saying that she was asking the kids to stop jumping up and down, when she came down, received that alert on her phone that in fact it was an earthquake that was likely causing that movement. So, it gives you an indication that, yeah, you and I may have not felt it, but there were plenty of other people who said this is certainly a day they're not going to forget.
SOLOMON: Yeah, certainly not. And you imagine it's a Friday morning. This apparently happened within the last hour or so, about an hour or so ago. Perhaps, people are at a coffee shop, as we saw on that video in New Jersey, enjoying a Friday morning, where they are maybe working from home or not working at all, or they're sightseeing, as many people in the Hudson Yards location are likely. It's an area where we see a lot of tours, an area where folks are taking advantage of the edge, as you said.
Polo, give us a sense of what we can expect to hear from authorities. I know Eric Adams, the Mayor of New York, said that he is expecting a press conference. We've heard from the governor. And sense of what we can expect throughout the day as officials assess --
SANDOVAL: Right.
SOLOMON: -- damage and communicate with us in the public. What happened?
SANDOVAL: It's a great question. I think they hopefully will get a better sense of the scale of the impact here. Again, though there isn't any indication that there was any damage, this certainly has potential to disrupt. For example, we have heard from the Federal Aviation Administration saying that there could be -- are likely some flight delays at some of the area airports because of the potential interruption there. So, hopefully, New York City officials can at least update us on that, certainly mass transit that's used by millions of people every day.
And then, finally, do they expect any aftershocks? That's a question that I keep getting right now. What the New York City officials have done is they've put out some advice for people in the region saying, should that happen, they're recommending that people simply drop to the floor, cover their heads and necks, and if possible, seek shelter under a heavy piece of furniture should that actually take place. But, again, we have not felt any aftershock, but certainly going to be an important question for officials to answer since that's likely something that's heavy on people's minds here in New York City, and not just where we are, but also surrounding states with people as far as certainly New Jersey where the epicenter was reported, Pennsylvania as well as other parts of the Northeast feeling that shake this morning.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And just a few things. I mean, just some of the advice that we've seen being shared. If you felt it, stay inside perhaps. The Philadelphia Police Department, as we said, Philadelphia, which is about 100 miles south of New York City, also feeling these tremors, also feeling this shaking. Philadelphia police urging people to not call 911. If you were OK and you just felt the trembling and you felt this, do not call 911 unless you are reporting an emergency.
Polo, I would love to ask you just based on you being outside talking to New Yorkers as people walked by you, what have you heard from people? Are people sort of taking this and just and feeling like, whoa, like that's an experience, or are people expressing some concern about the fact that we just experienced an earthquake here in New York?
SANDOVAL: Yeah. The unusual nature of this event is certainly feeling those conversations amongst so many people right now. Again, this is something that New Yorkers do not experience every day and that's really an understatement. But, at the same time, we've also -- there was a couple from Mexico City that was visiting. They didn't feel it. But, at same time, New York City is certainly no stranger to earthquake events either. So, I think that the reaction, it certainly makes it. A couple that with that family that we just described that we talked about, certainly felt it. Well, others certainly going about their business. But, there is no ignoring this.
[11:30:00]
There was an interesting moment about 30 minutes ago. You can see a lot of people sort of holding up their phones. It's because an emergency alert was being issued, basically trying to update people on what had taken place that it was in fact a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that actually shook the region. But, outside of that, you look around here, at least at this part of Manhattan, certainly no clear indication, no visible indication of what took place. But, you stop people on the streets and you ask them, they know about it, for sure. SOLOMON: For sure. Yeah. Hard to miss, or maybe you did miss it, like
Polo and myself did. Just sort of recapping for our audience here a few things. One, we have just learned that the New York Mayor -- Governor, I should say, well, the New York City Mayor and the Governor are both planning press conferences. The governor's office now saying that she is planning, Kathy Hochul, now planning a press conference really any minute now, at 11:30 Eastern. We're expecting that. And then, the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, his office also acknowledging that they are planning a press conference for about noon, to about 30 minutes from now. So, we'll, of course, wait to hear what comes from both of those press conferences.
Now, I can tell you that we have heard from officials, elected officials, really across the Northeast, as we -- as they actively monitor the situation. This is coming from the Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, tweeting that his office is actively monitoring the situation and in contact with counties on any damage. We will keep Pennsylvanians updated.
So, what it sounds like about an hour into this is that officials are still sort of trying to get a pulse check here, trying to get a sense of, OK, what happened? How many people felt it? How serious was it? How deep was it? And was there any damage? And obviously, of course, and most paramount, was anyone hurt? So, as officials continue to assess the damage, we will continue to wait for that press conference from the Governor of New York.
In the meantime, now I want to bring in Susan Hough of the U.S. Geological Survey. Susan, please forgive me if I mispronounced your name there, but so good to have you. Explain for us exactly what more you can share about what exactly happened and who all felt it.
SUSAN HOUGH, SEISMOLOGIST, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: So, I've been saying that earthquakes of this magnitude are uncommon, but they're not unheard of along the entire Atlantic Seaboard. It is -- it's a region that does have stresses in the Earth's crust. It does have moderately large earthquakes. We've seen them up and down at the East Coast. If you look back in time, all the way back to the 1700s, there were earthquakes close to magnitude five, very close to New York City. So, it's not a shock that we've seen it, although it is unusual people don't expect it. I lived in New Jersey and Nyack, New York, and never felt an earthquake there.
4.7 is not generally large enough to cause damage unless you're right on top of the epicenter. There might be some light effects. But, it is big enough to be strongly felt, especially back East because once an earthquake happens, the waves just travel very efficiently through the crust back East.
SOLOMON: And Susan, let me --
HOUGH: And an awful lot of people -- what's that?
SOLOMON: Excuse the interruption. I just wanted to update you that we've been updated that it is now a 4.8 magnitude earthquake. It was a 4.8 magnitude earthquake. Does that change anything in terms of the level of damage as you tell us sort of what a 4.7 might typically cause?
HOUGH: No. Between a 4.7 and a 4.8, that's really not a consequential difference. The earthquake in Virginia, people remember that, that was a 5.8, and that was a full magnitude unit, bigger, that was big enough to cause damage. So, that kind of difference does matter.
SOLOMON: And then, let me ask, any -- and forgive the question. I mean, I've never lived through an earthquake before. So, this is all very new to me. But, any chance of an aftershock after this? I mean, what happens after this?
HOUGH: Yeah. No. That's a great question. And we expect aftershocks after earthquakes, 4.7 is large enough that on average you might have a couple of magnitude three-ish aftershocks if this is a typical magnitude 4.7. So, people, especially in the immediate area, they might feel light aftershocks of 3.5, say wouldn't be felt nearly as widely as a 4.7. There is -- we need to tell people, anytime you have an earthquake, there is a small chance, a very small chance that it's a foreshock to something bigger. And it may be one in 100 or lower, but it's not zero. And so, that's something people and emergency responders, management officials need to be aware of that once you have earthquake activity, it increases the odds of subsequent events.
SOLOMON: So, what should people do with that information? I know you say it's not common, but it's also not zero, the chances of it happening. So, what should people know now in terms of the rest of the day?
HOUGH: Yeah. I mean, just to be aware that it wouldn't be that unusual to feel more shaking. There is some -- fairly simple preparedness steps that we encourage people to do, from considering, if an earthquake happens, do you have water on hand?
[11:35:00]
Do you have food on hand? Do you have medicine? It's the same sort of planning that you might do for a serious storm. For an earthquake, are there things that are hanging on the wall above your bed or your children's bed, for example, that could fall in an earthquake? Those are some simple steps that people can do. That can be helpful if that one in 100 chance is borne out.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And I wonder, any sort of precautions you may share about people who are inside, perhaps plan to stay inside, but just in terms of where they should be in the house? One thing that caught my attention is that, according to the USGS, close to 300,000 people felt moderate shaking, which is apparently strong enough to break windows or cause dishes to fall. Any sense or precautions in that sense?
HOUGH: Yeah. Actually, that's another great question. We -- the recommendation, if you feel shaking, is drop, cover and hold on. So, drop. If that you can get under a table or a desk, do that, hold on. We -- people should not run outside. That might be an instinct. That's a good way to get hurt. Especially the -- it's just more likely to get you hurt than it is to help, and that's been borne out in in California, for example. So, yeah, that's the guidance to remember, drop, cover, hold on. If you can't get under a table, you might crouch against a wall, move away from windows. So, those kinds of actions can be very important.
SOLOMON: And that's really good advice, especially for folks who maybe have never lived through one and who live in an area, as we said, that don't experience earthquakes often. Susan Hough, please standby. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon.
We continue to follow our breaking news. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hitting New Jersey and being felt in New York City. That quake was set to be shallow in nature, as we look at these live pictures of New York City now. We also know that the earthquake has disrupted air travel.
So, let's bring in CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean, who joins us now from Washington. Pete, give us a sense of the type of disruption here.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Being in the air is maybe the best place you can be during an earthquake. But, the impact is not over for so many passengers going into and out of the New York City area. Some of the biggest hubs for the airlines, United Airlines, a big hub at Newark Liberty International Airport. There is a ground stop right now. The FAA just updated it until about 12:30 Eastern Daylight Time. So, that's about another 15 minutes from now.
The issue there is, they need to inspect the infrastructure, check the runways, and also get the planes that were held on the ground there out before other airplanes can come in.
[11:40:00]
Pretty unusual for flights to be delayed because of an earthquake. This was much larger in scope when this quake first hit JFK and LaGuardia, the other airports around New York City. Those had ground stops for flights inbound there. Also, Philadelphia and Baltimore/Washington International also had ground stops. Those have since been cleared.
But, remember, New York, as a city, constantly on the move. About a million to a million and a half people commute in and out each day. And there will also be an impact here on the rails. Amtrak has said that they are doing track inspections right now, and trains to and from New York will be delayed under speed restrictions until those inspections can be completed. It is a very tunneled, very bridge heavy city. A lot of these pieces of infrastructure just need to be inspected visually with a mark one eyeball to see whether or not these things are OK.
To put it into context for you, after the 2011 earthquake of Washington, D.C., a lot of things were damaged, not only the National Cathedral, but also the Washington Monument, which was closed for a very long time because of the damage to that earthquake. So, this is not unheard of. And Californians may chortle about this. But, on the East Coast here, not a lot of things are built to withstand earthquakes because this is so infrequent.
So, we will see as the impacts sort of steamroll here, also New Jersey Transit, a lot of trains there, delayed about 20 minutes right now, system-wide, according to New Jersey Transit. We know that the Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel, they've both been inspected by the Port Authority. Delays there have been cleared. But, we are just at the start of this story. And in many cases, a lot of things need to be inspected, including the runways at airports, before things truly get back to normal, Rahel.
SOLOMON: And Pete, as you know, I mean, you cover this space closer than most. It doesn't take a lot sometimes to create a domino effect in terms of travel, in terms of air traffic. Any sense based on just your experience and expertise whether these delays at hubs like Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, New York, could that create a domino effect for people who are trying to get to Minneapolis or Dallas? What do you think?
MUNTEAN: Today was kind of the recovery day for the airlines after a lot of bad weather on the East Coast, caused a lot of delays and cancellations. At one point, we saw the peak of about 500 cancellations in the U.S. just a couple of days ago. Right now, the latest numbers from FlightAware, 81 cancellations in the U.S. today, 1,453 delays. 81 cancellations is relatively low. So --
SOLOMON: OK.
MUNTEAN: -- we could see a bit of a domino effect here. Although, at this point in the day, if that number is not in the hundreds, it's probably not going to be a really bad day, but never say never. I've been surprised before. So, we'll see as this sort of continues to take place. Here is the press conference starting --
SOLOMON: All right.
MUNTEAN: -- and I'm going to stop talking.
SOLOMON: All right. Let's listen together.
KATHY HOCHUL, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: Actually, I was in Washington, D.C. at the time in my apartment when I was in Congress, it was severely damaged. We felt those effects all the way up to Buffalo, New York. So, these are wide-scale possibilities. This is one of the largest earthquakes on the East Coast to occur in the last century. So, I immediately directed my emergency management team the second we received word of this to start doing damage assessments, any life in danger, and finding out whether there is any bridges or tunnels that are compromised. And so, that was the first reaction. You'll be hearing from the team that is working on that.
I also merely spoke to Governor Phil Murphy to offer any assistance and to find out what is happening in his state, which, again, was the epicenter. Our teams have been in casted communication with the Mayor of New York. We also spoke to the MTA to ensure the integrity, the structural integrity of the subway system, the Port Authority. And I want to announce that, right now, JFK and Newark airports are on full ground stops to assess any potential for after Effects.
And we've been in contact with utility companies to make sure that the gas and electric services continue. I will report that Amtrak and MTA are on full schedule. No disruption there at this time. I've been in communication with the White House. They reached out to us. The Deputy of Homeland Security Advisor, who is actually with President Biden right now, surveying the damage in Baltimore, called us and I believe they felt the effects even in Baltimore. So, it's been a very unsettling day, to say the least. But, the White House offered any assistance. Senator Schumer reached out, offered any assistance.
So, right now, it's most important that we have our structural teams out there, our engineering teams, surveying our bridges, our roads, any area there could be a fault line that is not easily detectable to make sure that passengers on our rails as well as our commuters are safe. Assessing all state roads, Commissioner Dominguez is taking lead on that, making sure our state roads are safe, major transmission lines and dams because you don't always see the effects of a small crack that actually could develop into a real major problem.
[11:45:00]
And we're also encouraging all the municipalities throughout the state of New York to assess for any structural integrity concerns. At this point, you're heading into an hour and a half after the effects. We've not identified any life-threatening situations. But, we are certainly asking our local law enforcement and emergency services teams to be on guard for that as well. But, again, we are going to be reviewing all potentially vulnerable infrastructure state sites throughout the state of New York that is critically important in the aftermath of an event like this.
Now, again, I have a few safety tips because New Yorkers are not accustomed to having earthquakes in our state, and everyone should continue to take this seriously. If there is an aftershock, people are encouraged to drop and to cover and to hold on, drop to the floor, cover your neck and hold on to something that is sturdy. Take caution near any damaged buildings. Again, we don't have reports of damaged buildings at this time. It is very early in the assessment process. But, if there is an aftereffect, please stay away from buildings, especially our high rises.
If you hear shifting or any noises, unusual noises, leave your home, go outside. You're safer there than in a building that could be crumbling around you. Inspect your home for damage, check walls, floors, doors, windows staircases, and if you see any damage at all, you may need to relocate while the event is going on. Again, check your own gas lines and water lines to make sure that your family is safe. So, stay connected and informed.
I will say this. Especially with all the national news about what happened in Taiwan with that deadly earthquake just this past week, I think there is a high level of anxiety around earthquakes, the magnitude, which Kathryn Garcia and Commissioner Bray will explain. That was a 7.4 magnitude in Taiwan. Again, we are 4.8, and they'll explain the difference. But, that's why we're going to continue to take this very seriously and make sure that we continue to update all New Yorkers. So, Kathryn Garcia, our head of State Operations, you'll hear from first, and then Commissioner Jackie Bray, head of Homeland Security. Thank you.
KATHRYN GARCIA, DIRECTOR OF STATE OPERATIONS, NEW YORK STATE: Thank you, Governor. I want to reiterate that we have no reports of damage at this time. And that immediately, all of the infrastructure agencies activated their policies and procedures to deal with this, because while highly unusual in the state of New York, we do actually have fault lines. This was significantly bigger than ones that are typically felt in the state of New York or occur and actually are not felt. That is because earthquakes happen on a logarithmic scale, which means that 3.0 is 10 times worse than a 2.0. So, a 4.0 is 10 times easier than a 5.0. So, every one of those makes a significant difference in what you will experience and what the damage could be.
In addition, we are also tracking whether or not there is any increase in hospitalizations as well as whether or not there is any increase in vehicle accidents that has not been reported at this time. Thank you.
HOCHUL: Commissioner Bray.
JACKIE BRAY, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES: Not much to add above. The Governor and Director Garcia covered it. I would say we did see an overloading of cell circuits in the New York City area immediately after the event. We've been in touch with AT&T, Verizon and T- Mobile. Their networks are clear now and backup and working. And we have opened the state's emergency operations center. We're at a level three to monitor impacts and reports that come in. We've seen one gas leak in Rockland County. But, other than that, there don't seem yet to be major infrastructure impacts. But, we are in touch with the counties. We will stay in touch with the counties all day.
HOCHUL: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Let's do some questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been in contact with the Indian Point facility in Westchester, and any concerns there?
HOCHUL: That's part of our analysis of all critically important infrastructure. So, yes, that communication has gone out. Correct?
BRAY: Yeah. We're in constant touch with both that facility and our other facilities. There is no damage reported at Indian Point. We wouldn't expect damage at this time. And we're in touch with Westchester and will stay in touch with Westchester.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, can you just say what you were doing at the time, what you felt and what was going on?
HOCHUL: No surprise to anybody here in the capital. I was meeting with my senior team, talking about their late night working on the budget and we were talking about how we're going to move the budget forward today. So, literally, sat in the room next door. People felt different degrees of movement in the room, surprising, and all of a sudden, everybody's cell phones start lighting up and describing what it was. So, we were literally right here working on the budget and getting a budget done. That includes a once in a lifetime housing package, may the only seismic event we expected this week.
[11:50:00]
So, this was rather unanticipated. You cannot plan for this. There is no early warnings. There is no weather service that can tell you an earthquake is imminent. And that's why everybody was caught off guard. But, fortunately, here in the state of New York, we are masters of disasters. We know how to handle this from unexpected snowstorm just a couple of days ago. Everybody is anticipating massive crowds for another celestial event on Monday with the total eclipse pathway going through large parts of our state.
So, my point is, we're always ready. We have planning in place. All of our teams activate instantaneously. And I feel very comfortable about that. But, again, these are emerging situations. It could be over, but also there could be another effect, and we have to be prepared for that and warn New Yorkers to be critically vigilant in the days following an original earthquake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, I assume your team has analyzed the aftershock forecast. What did they show? What should we anticipate?
HOCHUL: Commissioner Bray, the former head of -- one of the heads of the National Weather Service, is this something we can predict?
BRAY: No. Yeah. Yeah. We don't -- we don't --
HOCHUL We don't predict earthquakes.
BRAY: -- we don't predict -- the aftershocks aren't predictable. And so, we, obviously, will monitor. USGS asked us information. But, we're not looking at -- these aren't forecastable events.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, one more on the ground stop at JFK and the airports. Is there a timeline for how that gets (inaudible)?
HOCHUL: We just spoke to them. Do they have a timeline? None of that.
BRAY: We don't have a timeline yet. What they're doing is really confirming that the air traffic control towers are safe to operate in. So, as soon as we know, we'll make sure that that's public information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which airports were those, again? I'm sorry.
HOCHUL: JFK and Newark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not LaGuardia?
HOCHUL: Not LaGuardia. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
HOCHUL: Why not LaGuardia, because they've redone their -- they've been more recent -- Kathryn, explain it.
GARCIA: We're getting more information, but we suspect it is because they were renovated more recently, and meet higher standards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, everybody.
HOCHUL: All right. Thanks very much. I appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any meeting with legislative leaders today on the budget?
SOLOMON: All right. We've just been listening to the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, with her team. They're updating the press and updating the public about today's earthquake, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake, something that New Yorkers and those of us on the northeast don't often experience. A few updates here. She says -- the governor says that they have not identified any life-threatening situations. She says what they're doing now is she said they have structural teams. They have engineering teams. They're out surveying areas like bridges, areas like roads. They're looking for structural integrity concerns. So, that's what's happening now.
So, essentially, they're still assessing to see sort of what the impact is on the ground in New York. She says that the White House has reached out. She says that she has spoken to neighboring Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy. She said that the ground stops for New York airports such as JFK and Newark, they have ground stops. They don't have an update at this point on when that will be lifted. She said LaGuardia, which those of us who travel in New York know that LaGuardia had been under a renovation. It took years. That has since been completed. She says that it seems like that may be part of the reason why there isn't a ground stop at LaGuardia right now, which was really interesting.
Let me bring back in our guest from the U.S. Geological Survey, Susan Hough. Susan, good to have you again. As the governor said there, this could be over or it could not be in terms of whether we see an aftershock. Give us a sense of sort of what the window is in terms of watching for an aftershock, and at what point people can feel like we're in the clear here.
HOUGH: Yeah. So, there were some great information in that - -in what the governor had to say. Yeah. We can't predict aftershocks. We wouldn't be surprised if magnitude three-ish aftershocks happen. None so far have been detected by the USGS. So, some earthquakes have relatively light aftershock sequences for reasons we don't entirely understand. So, yeah, we can give probabilities, but we can't make predictions. Within the next few days, the expectation would be that people in the area might feel smaller aftershocks.
SOLOMON: And then, just remind us, you're right that we did get some really critical information there, and the governor also provided some advice in terms of whether people do feel tremors, whether they feel something in the future. She said that her advice is to drop to the floor, cover your neck, and hold onto something sturdy. Anything additional you can share.
HOUGH: I mean, that really is the most important thing for people to know. If they feel an earthquake in any part of the U.S., it might be instinctive to run outside. Don't do that. That's a good way to get hurt, and that's been borne out in any number of earthquakes in California, for example. So, drop in to the ground. If you can get under a desk or table, do that. If you can't, protect your neck.
[11:55:00]
Get away from windows if you're near windows, and then wait until the shaking is over, if you do feel additional shaking.
SOLOMON: Such good information, and we're so glad to have you on this day. That's quite unusual for those of us on the northeast. That's Susan Hough of the U.S. Geological Survey. Thank you so much, Susan.
HOUGH: You're welcome. Thank you.
SOLOMON: And just a quick recap for our audience if you're just tuning in, the northeast part of the U.S. from as far north as Maine, we're now learning to as far south as Washington, D.C., covering a span of about 700 miles, so pretty significant geography here, experiencing an earthquake of some sort, feeling it in a different way. Some felt light shaking. Some felt more serious shaking. And as we can see in the map here, the epicenter of the 4.8 magnitude quake was in the state of New Jersey.
A few things that we just learned from the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul. At this point, they have not identified any life-threatening situations. But, she said that teams are out assessing that damage, as we can imagine other states are as well.
That's going to do it for us today. We so appreciate you being with us. That's it from me. But, stay with CNN, and our continuing coverage of the earthquake in the U.S. I'm Rahel Solomon.
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