Post-Quake Update: I’m OK

A quick note here to let friends and family know I’m OK here in New York following today’s East Coast earthquake.

I happened to be in Lower Manhattan for the quake, as I have been for an uncanny number of both man-made and natural disasters the last few years, including 9/11, the Great Blackout of 2003, the outbreak of the financial crisis in September 2008, and now this. Basically, anything short of an invasion by aliens. I really don’t come to this neighborhood much anymore, but I was in today to get a haircut and run a few other errands.

After the tremors, a lot of people came out of office buildings, mulling around and such. People were definitely on edge but calm and orderly, as I’ve witnessed in similar instances including even 9/11. I think NYC is getting this routine down, really. Within 30-45 minutes, things were pretty much back to normal.

Seems to me that whatever seismic waves reached as far as New York from the epicenter near Washington were quite weak. I was in Kingston, Jamaica, in December during a quake that was estimated between 3.0 and 4.0 on the Richter scale at the time, and it was much more perceptible to me than this one in the U.S. Today, I was eating lunch when the thing struck and didn’t notice a thing until I saw the crowds in the streets and started asking around.

Amid today’s crowd, I happened to run into my cousin Nigel Gardner, of all people. Those of you who know Nigel can rest assured that he’s fine too, working downtown these days for the state comptroller and switched from the Marines to the Army Reserve on weekends. He’s prepping for an Army tour in Afghanistan in February, though.

That news is of much greater concern to me than the whole “quake” kerfluffle, which didn’t cause any serious damage or injuries as far as I can tell. Good luck and safe return, Nigel.