A rare 4.8-magnitude earthquake that struck New York City on Friday left a large crack in their school’s gym, forcing a group of Brooklyn children to retool their physical education class. It was decided that it would not happen.
The public school building’s gymnasium, which is shared by JHS 218 James P. Sinnott and the School for Classics High School, was deemed unsafe by city officials who inspected the site after the earthquake.
An East New York gym remains cordoned off after “vertical, step-like” cracks were discovered along the inside of the building.
the inspector said gothamist Bricks near the cracks may come off, and the building will remain vacant until repairs are complete.
The Ministry of Education stressed that all school activities will continue as the rest of the building is safe.
“The Department of Buildings and our facility team quickly inspected the building, and DOB issued a partial eviction order for the gym until repairs are completed, which we do not expect to take long.” Nathaniel Steyer said in a statement Saturday morning. .
“This has been done with the utmost care and the building authority has confirmed that the rest of the school is safe for use.”
Steer also confirmed that he will update families directly.
The preliminary magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck around 10:23 a.m. near Lebanon, New Jersey, and was felt by an estimated 42 million people on the East Coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It was the strongest earthquake to hit a metropolitan area in 140 years.
After the earthquake, the New York City Department of Buildings announced that it had received approximately 80 reports of earthquake-related damage, most of them from Manhattan and the Bronx.
Building inspectors reviewed the report and found cracks in some places, but no major damage or collapse.
Out of caution, the department added engineering and inspection staff over the weekend to respond to new reports.
DOB Secretary Jimmy Oddo told Gothamist that it is important to remain vigilant in the coming days and weeks.
“Dear New Yorkers, we at the Department of Buildings are concerned about some of the possibilities downstream, including cracks that could develop or become apparent in the next week or month, scaffolding in retaining walls, etc. ,” Oddo said.
“If you see any problems, please call 311.”
The last time an earthquake near magnitude 5 occurred near New York City was in 1884, according to the USGS. The earthquake appeared to have its epicenter in Brooklyn.
In 2011, an even stronger earthquake of magnitude 5.8 was felt in the city, but its epicenter was in Virginia.
Friday’s earthquake was the strongest to hit New Jersey in 240 years, according to the Fox Prediction Center.
