Bladeflow @Bladeflow@qoto.org

April 5, 2024 brought a jolt to residents of multiple major cities in the Northeastern United States. A magnitude 4.8 earthquake centered in New Jersey was reportedly felt from Boston south to Philadelphia, including in New York City.

This is the first earthquake of this size near New York City since the late 19th-Century, and the largest in New Jersey since the late 18th-Century. Earthquakes are rarer on the East Coast of North America than the West Coast as that region is located far from a tectonic plate boundary.

The nearest plate boundaries to New York City are located in the center of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea. Still, there are a few mapped faults in the region. Geologists are also generally aware of additional unmapped faults under the surface. Some of these are capable of generating medium-size earthquakes.

Because of the geology of the Eastern United States, earthquakes can be felt at larger distances than in the west. The United States Geological Survey estimates that an earthquake in the east can be felt across an area ten times larger than a similar size earthquake in the west.

Thirteen earthquakes at or greater than M4.0 are known to have occurred in the Northeast Urban Corridor since 1700. This includes four in excess of M5.0. Medium-size earthquakes like this are typically observed once or twice a century.

The largest known earthquake in the region from the Philadelphia metro area to the Boston metro area was the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake off the coast of Massachusetts. This colonial-era event is estimated to have been M5.9. Readers may remember the M5.8 earthquake that struck Virginia in 2011, causing minor damage throughout the Washington, D.C. metro.

New York City took minor damage from earthquakes in 1737 and 1884. Those were similar in size to this week’s M4.8 but it is important to note that building standards in the 18th- and 19th-Centuries were not to the same level as they are today. The Smithsonian reports that the 1884 earthquake broke “panes of glass, crockery [and] lamps” in the city.

Recent studies have shown that there is a low but non-zero risk of an earthquake between M6 and M7 around New York City. Charleston, South Carolina was struck by an estimated M7.3 earthquake in 1886. It is important to note that such an earthquake is not necessarily imminent and that when an earthquake will strike is not predictable.

Liquefaction of wet soil is a significant risk in a large earthquake around New York. This is especially the case in infill areas along the city’s waterfront. Brooklyn is the area with the most buildings built from unreinforced masonry, which is susceptible to collapse during an earthquake.

Again, it is not possible to predict the timing and exact location of an earthquake, but this level of shaking was likely a once in a lifetime event for the nation’s largest city.

The featured image is a seismograph display from Northeast Pennsylvania from the 2024 earthquake in New Jersey. (IRIS)

https://ingallswx.com/2024/04/06/history-and-geology-of-new-york-city-earthquakes/

#Earthquake #Geology #History #nyc

March 2024 #Arctic sea ice extent was the 15th lowest on record...

This was 560,000 km² below the 1981-2010 average. March ice extent is decreasing at about 2.42% per decade. Data: https://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index

So, it's late March. Just over a week until #GooglePodcasts gets sunset! 🌇

If you are using Google Podcasts and haven't looked into alternatives yet: now is the time. If you want to give AntennaPod a try, here's a guide written by fellow fediverser @alecm:
https://alecmuffett.com/article/109414

Fossify Brings Free and Open-Source Utilities to Your Android Phone

Check it out! 👇
https://www.howtogeek.com/fossify-app-suite-android-open-source/

#AppsAndWebApps #Android

“Help Us Grow and Diversify OSMF Membership Worldwide”

Hundreds of thousands of people have contributed map data to #OpenStreetMap, but just under 2,000 of them are members of the OpenStreetMap Foundation, the legal body which supports (but does not control) the OSM project.

Why not change that? Join today!

Join the OSMF here: https://supporting.openstreetmap.org/#Membership-Categories

read more: https://blog.openstreetmap.org/2024/03/12/call-to-action-help-us-grow-and-diversify-osmf-membership/
#OpenStreetMap #OSM #gischat

Friendly heads up - Simple Mobile Tools was sold to ZipoApps¹, a company known for adding ads and privacy-invasive stuff. Their reputation is bad enough F-Droid preemptively turned off automatic updates², and the community has moved on to the Fossify organization, including Fossify Gallery³.

It's unfortunate folks didn't step up to help before the sale⁴, but ah well - progress has been made now.

¹ https://tgrush.bearblog.dev/simple-mobile-tools-falls-victim-to-zipoapps/
² https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/-/issues/3142
³ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fossify.gallery/
⁴ https://f-droid.org/en/2024/01/04/twif.html
#SimpleMobileTools #Android #FDroid

Friendly reminder, that SimpleMobileTools has been sold and therefore is forked to Fossify. This project needs our contribution!

#Fossify #SimpleMobile #SimpleMobileTools #simple_mobile_tools
#fdroid
#Android

https://github.com/FossifyOrg

👉 Popular #Android Simple Mobile Tools with apps like Simple Contacts, Simple File Manager etc. (#FOSS, GPL3 with paid Pro versions) have been sold to ZipoApps as confirmed by creator Tibor Kaputa on github. ZipoApps are known for "sourcing, buying, "evolving" apps - their words) - and monetizing them. You may want to adjust your automatic update settings, do your own research and consider open source alternatives.

https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/General-Discussion/issues/241

#Fdroid #SimpleMobileTools

Happy 11th Landiversary, @MarsCuriosity! #OTD the rover survived its wild ride down to a safe landing on Mars. This mountaineering adventurer continues to explore and is facing its toughest climb yet. Catch up on Curiosity’s journey: http://go.nasa.gov/3KpQrr8
#NASAMars

What it takes to grow – pioneering psychoanalyst Karen Horney on the key to self-realization https://t.co/zGgqX0wmRv

Many Redditors are switching to Lemmy, an open-source, decentralized alternative.

https://news.itsfoss.com/lemmy/

Don't miss the battle for pole at Silverstone ⚔️🇬🇧

Set your alarms! ⏰

#BritishGP @ROLEX

An extreme level of Creativity 😳😳😳
A Bharat Ratna is also made for them 😊😌
#Zodiac: #StephenKing

The Coronation of the King.. 😏

Originally posted by IEEE / @IEEEorg: http://nitter.platypush.tech/IEEEorg/status/1648733252868243467#m

How vast is the worldwide web? Over 64% of the world's population is connected to the Internet as of January 2023. And approximately 92% of users access the internet via a mobile device at least some of the time, representing approximately 60% of all web traffic.

Some people wish that Mastodon had better News, Tech and Culture coverage.

Well, now Flipboard has these convenient curated accounts:

Flipboard News Desk
https://flipboard.social/@NewsDesk

Flipboard Teck Desk
https://flipboard.social/@TechDesk

Flipboard Culture Desk
https://flipboard.social/@CultureDesk

Follow these accounts for a steady stream of pertinent posts!
(They promise not to overwhelm your feed)

Thanks @tchambers for spotting this great new resource!

#twittermigration

Animation of annual mean #Arctic sea ice volume from 1979 to 2022...

New visualization at: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-figures/

HourlyWolves presents: https://nitter.net/hourlywolvesbot/status/1639190435192254464/photo/1

🐦🔗: https://nitter.net/hourlywolvesbot/status/1639190435192254464

"Cada uno hace lo que puede en este mundo, y hacerse ilusiones es un medio de alegrarse la vida."

-Fiódor Mijáilovich Dostoyevski

NEW TECHQUICKIE: Why Is ".com" Everywhere? https://youtu.be/1jsEsnC8BCU https://twitter.com/LinusTech/status/1633201912127291392/photo/1