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Earthquakes can strike faster than a New York minute – What to do when the ground shakes…

New York City, with its towering skyscrapers and bustling streets, is probably not the first place people think of when they think about earthquakes. Yet, as surreal as it sounds, earthquakes do rattle New York on occasion and we’re not just talking about in hokey disaster movies. For example, on August 10, 1884, a magnitude 5.2 quake struck near Coney Island, shaking homes, crumbling chimneys, and leaving many confused by what had happened. Would people be any less baffled if a large earthquake struck the city today?

Unlike other natural disasters, earthquakes strike without warning (with limited exceptions for a few West Coast states where ShakeAlert earthquake early warning is available), leaving little time for people to react. And since you can’t stop them, the best you can do is know they’re possible and how to respond if one occurs.

New York City is one of many major cities with a melting pot of cultures and with residents hailing from all corners of the globe, but it has also not traditionally been a place where residents are used to thinking about earthquake risks. To help bridge the gap, the USGS has released a new multilingual earthquake preparedness flyer aimed at showing folks that earthquakes exist in New York City and what to do if they feel the ground shake…drop, cover, and hold on!

Written in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Chinese, Haitian Creole, and French, these handouts are useful for diverse communities around the U.S. with limited English proficiency. They are simple, informative, and easily shareable. After all, in the pursuit of public safety, knowledge is power. Now people can better understand what’s at stake and be prepared to weather any storm…or in this case, earthquake… that may come their way.