On Friday, as the city was shaken by the 4.8-magnitude earthquake in New Jersey, the response from state and city officials was less than inspiring.
An emergency alert from the city didn’t hit phones for a full half-hour after the shaking stopped. A second alert followed about 45 minutes later. An alert from the state would go out nearly a full hour after the quake had subsided, though Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement shortly after the tremors.
Shaun Abreu, a City Council member, joked about the lapse in time on X.
When asked about the gap between when the earthquake was registered to when city residents were alerted, the city’s emergency manager Zach Iscol said the time was actually fast by their standards.
“First off, there’s a lot of work we have to do to make sure we’re getting confirmation from USGS that this was actually an earthquake, right? There’s a lot of things that can cause buildings to shake,” he said during a press conference. “Two, we also need to make sure we’re putting out the proper guidance, but 20 minutes is very, very fast for a public notification.”
Prior to his scheduled briefing on the quake, Mayor Eric Adams shared tips on what residents should do in case of an aftershock. Online, he suggested that residents get down on the floor, cover their head and neck, and hide “under a solid piece of furniture, next to an interior wall, or in a doorway.”
That advice is considered out of date. The federal government actively warns against taking shelter in doorways on its emergency-preparedness website. Per the CDC, doorways are no stronger than any other part of your house or dwelling. Adams later repeated the advice at a noon briefing.
City officials have previously faced criticism for their response to weather events. Last June, when Canadian wildfire smoke engulfed city skies, many questioned whether City Hall alerted residents quickly enough about the hazardous conditions. In the wake of a massive rainstorm that September, Adams took 24 hours to personally speak on the storm after it had already flooded neighborhoods and suspended subway travel across the boroughs.
