Daniel Aldrich, director of Northeastern's Security and Resilience Program, says that outside of the Bay Area, the U.S. can learn from other parts of the world.
A 4.8-magnitude earthquake centered in New Jersey shook residents in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Atlantic regions of the United States on Friday morning.
The earthquake occurred at 10:23 am. according to the US Geological Surveyand could be felt in parts of Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, as well as New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located in Lebanon, New Jersey, about 50 miles west of New York.
Catastrophic seismic activity on the US East Coast is rare. The last earthquake of significance was measured on 5.8 near Richmond, Virginia in 2011.
On social media, the response to the East Coast earthquake was one of shock and intrigue, given how rare earthquakes are there. But disaster recovery experts question whether the eastern part of the country – home to the nation's capital as well as its largest and most populous city – will be equipped to deal with a more devastating earthquake, should it strike.
“With the exception of San Francisco, we are very unprepared for earthquakes in North America,” he says Daniel Aldrichprofessor at Northeastern, director of the university's Security and Resilience Program and co-director of the Global Resilience Institute.
Friday's quake comes just days after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan, killing 10 people.
The US Geological Survey notes that strong earthquakes have occurred in the eastern US in the past, citing the magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck north of Boston in 1755. “Destructive earthquakes have historically occurred in nearly every eastern state,” the agency says.
In other parts of the world, particularly where seismic activity is much more common, protective measures they're part of everyday life — from drills and evacuation protocols, to resilient building codes and earthquake-resistant structures, Aldrich says.
“In Australia and New Zealand there have been raids on individual buildings to ensure they are earthquake-proof,” says Aldrich. “How safe is it to stay in your home after a magnitude four, five or six earthquake? We have no idea. Again, here in North America most of us don't think about that.”
The US Geological Survey describes many steps to get to prepare for an earthquake. They include:
Step 1: Secure your premises by identifying hazards and securing movable objects.
Step 2: Plan to be safe by creating a disaster plan and deciding how to communicate in an emergency.
Step 3: Organize disaster supplies in convenient locations.
Step 4: Minimize financial hardship by organizing important documents.
Earthquakes can have one or two causes, Aldrich says. They can be the result of the movement of the tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust, or from faults. The latter reason is why states like Oklahoma and Texas experience more frequent earthquakes.
“I'm going to guess that the earthquake we just had is natural,” he says.
Aldrich says it's possible the area could experience small aftershocks.
“There have been many theories trying to predict what will happen after the first earthquake – whether, for example, the aftershocks get stronger or weaker – but we're not very good at predicting earthquakes, despite the amazing science and sensors we have nowadays “, says.
Mehrdad Sasaniprofessor of civil and environmental engineering, agrees — in part.
“Forecasting is not really a science,” he says.
Earthquakes are part and parcel of life on the West Coast because the western part of the country sits on the boundary of large tectonic plates that have many of the most active faults, Sasani says.
Earthquake preparedness, seismic codes and standards, he says, are based on knowing the severity of an earthquake in a given area, as well as the likelihood of ground movement — and building designs reflect known risks.
In other words, buildings in Massachusetts, for example, don't need to be designed with the same level of risk compared to buildings in the San Francisco area, he says.
Scientists study the geology of an area, taking into account past earthquakes and other factors to calculate the probability. The US Geological Survey recently developed a map that shows earthquake probability by region, Sasani says.
Low-magnitude earthquakes occur frequently on the East Coast, Sasani says.
“The Earth's crust is constantly moving,” he says.
