I Was Only Joking!

I was only joking about the earthquakes earlier in the week being a precursor to the “BIG” earthquake, well there was a 4.8 in New Jersey this morning and they could very well be precursors. In the last week we had a number of 1.0 to 2.0 quakes and now the 4.7.
 

Back in 1755 there was an earthquake in Boston…

Modern Analyses of the 1755 Earthquake

From comparisons of damage reports and felt areas of the 1755 earthquake with those same observations for modern earthquakes, the magnitude of the 1755 earthquake is estimated to have been about 6.0 to 6.3, a strong earthquake according to the modern Richter Scale. The quake's epicenter is thought to have been about 25 miles east of Cape Ann in an area of the ocean where several small earthquakes have been detected during the past 30 years. A 1997 study found that if the Cape Ann earthquake were to recur today, the City of Boston could sustain billions of dollars of earthquake damage, with many thousands injured or killed. Since so much of the city is built on artificially created landfill, Boston is particularly vulnerable to the effects of a strong earthquake.

There was also an earthquake in 1886 down in Savannah, Georgia…

The great 'quake of 1886
The three epicenters of this major destructive quake, now estimated to have been about a 7.3 magnitude, were located just outside of Charleston, one hundred miles north. But on the night of August 31, people in Savannah thought they must be experiencing The Great Savannah Earthquake.

The geography of the northeast. There is a great crack that comes ashore in New Jersey goes north on Manhattan and then curves north up the Connecticut River valley. Where I live there are all cliffs facing west and slopping down to the east that are called the “Hanging Hills.” They are the result of the Newark Fault in the Connecticut River valley.

 

The Conversation writes..

The rare large ones like this are generally not predictable. However, now that this one has happened, there will likely not be others of similar size in that area for a long time. Once the slip happens in a region like this, the gravitational problem on that ancient fault is typically solved and the system is more stable.

If you look at the link of the faults in Connecticut you see that red area near the center of the map, well that’s where I live. In my backyard I have a 50 foot cliff that is the actually on of the many fault lines (But it hasn’t been active for over a million years.), my house sits on a basalt dike. My foundation sits right on a rock ledge. In spots when I was building the house we were scraping the ledge clean to pour the concrete on. My house actually sits at angel to the street for two reasons, one to catch the sun and so I wouldn't have to blast.

So could a big one be coming? It is possible a magnitude 6 or 7 can happen, it has happened in the past.

Below is a painting by the painter Frederic Edwin Church, the painting is West Rock, New Haven, 1847 which is one of the hanging hills. 

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Update: 6:30PM

CBS  News reports...

A 4.0 magnitude aftershock hit 37 miles west New York City near Gladstone, N.J. around 6 p.m. Friday. It was felt as far away as Long Island.