NYC's Unserious Outlook on the Earthquake
By Andrea Baldeon & Samara Pierre
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The morning of Friday April 5th, 2024, New York City experienced a 4.8 magnitude earthquake. Although this should have been taken as a serious matter, considering that New York City hardly ever has them, social media took this opportunity to take this as a joke.
Hillcrest High School was in session during this earthquake. Some students said they didn't feel anything, and others said they thought it was the “end of the world.” All of their feelings were brought to apps like Tik Tok, Instagram and Snapchat. Keli Dzokpe, an 11th grade student, posted on Instagram a flier advertising a “NYC Earthquake Function.” When asked about why he made this, he stated “So I felt like everyone was excited about the earthquake, so we should have something else to be excited for. A party you know?” Then when we asked about his reaction to it, he said “I felt like it was sensational.”
A viral shop in the Upper West Side neighborhood of New York City, made profit off of a shirt stating “I Survived the NYC Earthquake.” Thanks to Kerry Colley, the creator, they sold 1,200 T-shirts in less than five days. According to cnbc.com, Colley and his team only took 15 minutes to make the shirts and then hang them up to be sold. Colley didn’t expect the shirts to get that popular and to his surprise sold many shirts during the whole weekend when the earthquake occurred. Additionally, according to Colley, he had never experienced a weekend like that one and the staff didn’t even have time to come up with ideas for a shirt for the solar eclipse the following Monday.
While earthquakes in New York City are uncommon, they can have serious implications due to the city’s dense population and infrastructure. As a result, citizens must remain aware and prepared for such catastrophes by putting in place strong emergency response plans. Despite the threats that the earthquake could pose, the majority of students in Hillcrest High School treated it calmly and even humorously.
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