NY Earthquake

A

A1TAPE

Well-Known Member
There was an earthquake this morning in NY which caused ground stops for the metros and others. 4.8 semiotic score so felt shaking for a good 20 seconds. My question for you crews how did you handle it when it happened? I heard a bunch of arrivals went around, not sure if they were told to by ATC or not. But for those on the ground who felt it were you waiting, on the roll, or about to take off? Also if it happens during the roll would YOU abort? How would you take it up AFTER V1 during the earthquake?

*and yes its in the Airline section as well
 
Came in from CDG. Boston center told us to go slow as practical and advised us JFK tower was being evacuated. About 10 minutes later they said speed up and expect no delays. Was a nothing burger for us. Landed around 1115am and didn’t hold
 
Jordan793 said:
Came in from CDG. Boston center told us to go slow as practical and advised us JFK tower was being evacuated. About 10 minutes later they said speed up and expect no delays. Was a nothing burger for us. Landed around 1115am and didn’t hold
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Surprises me they evacuated- I felt the earthquake at home, about 20 miles from the epicenter. It was an interesting experience, as I'd never felt an earthquake before, but ultimately the house didn't really shake much more than it did from a gale the other day. I'd be surprised if there was any significant damage or if anyone got injured from this earthquake.
 
Can they tell if an earthquake is a singular event, or if it might be a lead-in to a larger one? Or is the first usually the largest and the after-shocks are always lesser magnitude? Inquiring minds…
 
Hiboglossi said:
Surprises me they evacuated- I felt the earthquake at home, about 20 miles from the epicenter. It was an interesting experience, as I'd never felt an earthquake before, but ultimately the house didn't really shake much more than it did from a gale the other day. I'd be surprised if there was any significant damage or if anyone got injured from this earthquake.
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I think they just evacuated out of caution. My whole family is from NY and they said they felt it but it wasn’t anything crazy
 
Felt it in my hotel in Brooklyn. I work the back side of the clock, so I was asleep. I halfway woke up and registered it as a pretty typical little rumble - until I woke up the rest of the way and realized I wasn't in Anchorage yet.

I typically brief that a reject in the low speed regime could be called for unusual noises or vibrations that suggest blown tires or ingested FOD. An earthquake that size on takeoff roll OTOH would likely be indistinguishable from gusting winds, nose wheel shimmy or just my usual sloppy technique. Certainly not worthy of consideration anywhere near V1.
 
SteveC said:
Can they tell if an earthquake is a singular event, or if it might be a lead-in to a larger one? Or is the first usually the largest and the after-shocks are always lesser magnitude? Inquiring minds…
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No, you cannot determine if it's a singular event. The aftershock vs foreshock classification cannot occur until the next quake

Foreshocks, aftershocks - what's the difference? | U.S. Geological Survey

"Foreshock" and "aftershock" are relative terms. Foreshocks are earthquakes that precede larger earthquakes in the same location. An earthquake cannot be identified as a foreshock until after a larger earthquake in the same area occurs. Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that occur in the same...
www.usgs.gov www.usgs.gov
 
Hiboglossi said:
Surprises me they evacuated- I felt the earthquake at home, about 20 miles from the epicenter. It was an interesting experience, as I'd never felt an earthquake before, but ultimately the house didn't really shake much more than it did from a gale the other day. I'd be surprised if there was any significant damage or if anyone got injured from this earthquake.
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Same. I live about 20 miles east of the epicenter and felt it at home. Was pretty shocking since I’ve never felt one. I thought my foundation was failing 😂
 
You guys are going to be alright. See, the earth didn’t open and swallow flaming school buses or giant buildings didn’t smash into your car, did they? :)

But Florida, man, big-assed house-eating sinkholes everywhere… :)
 
derg said:
You guys are going to be alright. See, the earth didn’t open and swallow flaming school buses or giant buildings didn’t smash into your car, did they? :)

But Florida, man, big-assed house-eating sinkholes everywhere… :)
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Yeah, but that's because of the woke and DEI.

(ducks)
 
I'd be afraid if I was in a 100 yr old building in an area that never has earthquakes and things started shaking. But I've been through some major quakes and there's a reason why I refuse to live in an apartment ever again. I should be used to them, the truth is they still terrify me because I've seen the destruction firsthand. The problem with this quake is it happened in an area where people are not accustomed to the ground getting a little skippy. A 4.8 would hardly make the local news here. It all depends on perspective.
 
We were just starting the engines at VNY on the morning of July 4, 2019 when the plane began swaying a bit. I though one of the pax had stood up in the back to retrieve a bag, but when I radioed for taxi I got no response. I then noticed the palm trees swaying and the line service guy had taken kind of a half seat on the ground.

After about 30 seconds ground came back a with a “standby, we’ve just had an earthquake and are assessing damage.” After a brief delay we were able to taxi and depart as normal. This was the 6.4Mw Ridgecrest foreshock, which would be followed the next day by a 7.1Mw quake. The epicenter was about 100 miles away from us.

I very much doubt we’d have noticed anything amiss if we were on the takeoff roll.

Fix
 
I lived through a 7.9 here in Anchorage (everybody lived to be fair), but we have extremely good building codes etc. The east coast probably does not have as stringent requirements and I would naturally be concerned about things simply falling over. I cannot say how that would affect my decision making in the airplane, but I doubt it would change much.

For OP, I would not abort after V1, I'd much rather be in the air anyway. I've experienced magnitude 4 and 5 earth quakes during taxi in small airplanes before, I didn't even know until my wife asked me, "hey, did you feel the earthquake today?" If it wasn't actively happening I probably wouldn't go around unless it was a really big one and there was visible damage or the runway was damage. That said, I never flew big airplanes. I could see being concerned about runway strength in that context.

Funniest joke about the quake I've seen is, "I heard there was a 4.8 in NYC and I thought of you."
 
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