The day New York shook: How the Big Apple reacted to Friday's 4.8 magnitude earthquake

Katie Mather
·Internet Culture Reporter
·3 min read
1.2k

A rare earthquake struck the Northeast on Friday morning, with the epicenter about 45 miles away from New York City. With no major damage or injuries reported, residents were quick to log on to social media and group texts to express and process their reactions together.

New Yorkers, especially, seemed shocked about the 4.8 magnitude earthquake, with many saying it was their first time experiencing one. It was the largest earthquake felt in New York City since the 2011 5.8 magnitude tremor in Virginia.

But once the dust settled, they flooded social media with quips, memes and other reactions — which has become customary following major events.

There were the extremely New York-centric reactions.

Then, as the West Coast woke up and people logged on, more X users started rolling their eyes at the reactions.

With the eclipse happening on April 8 — an event that is already spurring several end-time conspiracy theories — some attempted to make a connection between the two natural phenomena.

Cover thumbnail photo via Getty Images, X.