- An earthquake hit New York City on Friday.
- As the dust settles and panic subsides, New Yorkers are reacting in their own unique way.
- Here are the best jokes and memes to come out of the estimated 4.8-magnitude quake.
You're not the only one who ran to social media to confirm you weren't imagining the quake.
East Coast residents were shaken up on Friday morning by an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 4.8. When the initial panic subsided, the jokes — and disbelief — ensued online.
From genuine confusion about what just happened to clever jabs at the rivalry between the East and West Coast, here are some of the best reactions we've seen from social media following the unusual earthquake.
You OK, hun?
While New York and New Jersey residents' first thought probably wasn't, "is the Empire State Building still standing?" the famous landmark (or the humans behind its social media account) tried to reassure people on X.
Meantime, a prolific unofficial local weather account apologized for failing to see the quake coming:
I forgot to include scattered earthquakes in today’s weather rating. My bad.
— New York Metro Weather (@nymetrowx) April 5, 2024
No word as yet from the Statue of Liberty.
Wait, was that the subway I just felt?
If you were surprised to feel tremors in the usually non-seismic Big Apple and rushed to look up "earthquakes in New York" to see when was the last time this happened, you're not the only one.
And of course, there were those who couldn't help compare NYC to unofficial rival Los Angeles, a city known for its proximity to the San Andreas Fault Line.
"nyc having earthquakes now LA is over," one X user (based in New York, according to their bio) wrote.
Another post pointed out that NYC had an earthquake before even getting a branch of the popular LA-based grocer Erewhon. Sorry, New Yorkers, still no $20 Hailey Bieber smoothie for you.
Meantime, Business Insider's sister company Morning Brew pointed out that the quake epicenter was actually in New Jersey, not New York.
Earthquake World Cup Final
🤝
Things happening in New Jersey
that New York is taking credit for— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) April 5, 2024
No doubt the Sopranos memes are incoming.
Ugh, really? An earthquake?
Some people handled the event in true New Yorker fashion — being annoyed by the inconvenience and finding a way to complain about their living situation.
"Yelling "I'M WALKING HERE" at a tectonic plate," one user posted.
Others refused to meet their end in a tiny home in the city.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE IN A STUDIO APARTMENT," this post read.
And commuters simply didn't have the patience for a natural disaster holding up the subway — even if the quake only lasted about a minute or so.
On the bright side, at least we all learned that New Yorkers will manage to find humor when facing a disaster. Unfortunately, memes aren't exactly the best way to spread awareness.
The next earthquake might not happen for another 10 years, but it's best to be prepared with more than just your smartphone.