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An unexpected and violent earthquake hit NYC this afternoon with devastating affects. Office workers were forced to evacuate buildings out into the streets where the sun was shining, temperatures just a little lower than a hot summer day. Shaken by the sudden incident, people mingled and socialized, all the while complaining why Twitter was not responding.

In central park people sat on grass, lying down in a relaxing position, again taking in a good dose of sunshine. It may look like the park goers were enjoying a relaxed afternoon, but I assure you, every one of them were disturbed and in fear. So fearful that they stayed there, doing absolutely nothing. Just lying there, in the sun, not too hot, with an afternoon breeze.

As lines formed around elevators (to go back to work), I saw many evacuees choose to go to a safer place. "Fuck this, I'm not going back to work. Let's go to Starbucks and chill out" said the group leader standing right next to me. Clearly, he no longer had confidence in the structural integrity of his office building. With such a pounding, buildings could come crumbling down any moment. They may also suddenly explode, as usually the case with the most realistic movies.

One of our tech leads frantically called his wife to tell he was ok. Her abrupt reply was that the kid wasn't going to sleep and that she had bigger issues. Disappointing yet reassuring, her reply indicated that there was normal life resuming outside of the disaster zone. If one could escape the socializing, sun bathing, starbuck's chillin' catastrophe, there was a world that had not yet seen this violence.

The full ordeal lasted what seemed like an entire afternoon (30 minutes), but like any professional, we headed back to mission central to continue where we left off. We were happy to be alive. Everyone loved life a little bit more, and couldn't wait to go back home to see our families.

New York took a hit, but New Yorkers are tougher now. Next time an earthquake comes to the city we'll be sure to tell it to fuck off.

...like a Californian.

actually, that last sentence really encapsulates New Yorkers, from what i've seen...

Hi Ken

You should devote yourself to write books, you're amazing telling stories, seriously.

Your description made me go easily into the situation... I'm sorry people had to feel this terrible emotion... we know what it is!

Take care, and hope no more are felt there.

Cheers

Happy that everyone made it through the earthquake OK and was able to take a diversionary break from their busy lives to hang out in parks and spend more time with their friends and family. Sometimes mother nature knows best in that respect I guess.

I've been through about 10 quakes in the past 25 years. 5.8 is a good sized quake, but when you get up towards 6.2 to 7, then THAT is a quake.

This was perhaps a wake-up call.

G

p.s. is the Washington monument leaning or not?

Naaaa, 8.8, THAT is a quake!

When I visited New York in 2006 I did a lovely gig in Central Park supporting Ani DiFranco, got raked for a 20 spot by a hustler (his act was so worked I just paid him $20 for a good show ), caught Maynard Ferguson at the Blue Note while strolling past, met Roseanne Cash at the club we played at, bought a Little Martin at Manny's and strolled to Battery Park just in time to catch Little Feat playing "Don't Bogart That Joint".

Rosy times! I saw the good side of that town.

Keep us posted with some outsider's yarns from the big smoke will ya brother Ken ?

The elites in DC were really scared and fled to the streets in wonder.
Once the Obama handlers found out it was an earthquake, they were really surprised.
They then found where it originated and were amazed to see it was in Virginia.
They couldn't blame the quake on Bush, but they decided to name the faultline anyways.
It's now known as Bush's fault....

Ankyu
Please...................Stay Seated........

Now stay strong for Irene !

ya, Irene definitely seems to be more of a serious threat. I remember back in Miami, even Katrina at barely a Cat 1 did a lot of damage, and Wilma at tropical storm caused lots of stress though a lot lighter than Katrina.

It's similar to the earthquake in that New Yorkers are just not used to handling these things. I heard a big hurricane hit Long Island back in the 80's, but that seems to be the most recent actual touchdown.

The lack of knowledge (or will to prepare) was evident from what people were buying at the grocery store.. people were buying perishables like milk, raw meats, pre cut fruits.. all stuff that'll immediately go bad when power goes out. People were also buying bags of rice (need water and electricity!), instant mac 'n cheese (same problem)... I guess it's better than having nothing. Bananas were gone fast, which is a good choice of non-cook food. Strangely there were lots of bread left, whereas in Miami, bread was one of the first items to sell out. (immediately edible, though perishable)

What was funny was that the organic apples were sold out while there were still piles of regular apples. That's very New York, hehe.. douche bags.

Overall, there seems to be fear of flooding. I guess it's a viable threat since there's lots of waterfront property around here.. though from Katrina, I remember that it wasn't that big of an issue unless you were in an area that was known to be low. (since much of Miami is kinda low) Maybe it's more of a serious issue here, dunno. I'm also not sure how well highrises fend with the wind. Higher areas get high directly since there's nothing breaking the wind.. That's something I can't really predict from my experiences in Miami. The NY/NJ area also don't have hurricane shutters like in Miami.

NJ's government response was laughable. They say they'll wait 'till Saturday to call for evacuation.. man, the thing comes Sat evening. A last minute evacuation call is just going to cause confusion and lots of people stuck on the road. What sort of a government response is that. It's a culmination of inexperience and misinformation.

Anyway, I'm right by the water, on the 15th floor. I guess I won't be going under water, but worried a bit about windows. Overall though, Katrina wasn't too crazy (for Miami) so I'm kinda fine with the inconveniences. My wife is used to it too. The baby.. Well, I suppose she'll find the experience very funny. Anything exciting is funny for her. Generally, as soon as power is back, chinese delivery is right back into service, so getting food should be okay even if we run out of our stash. (thanks to General Tso)

Though I only have 1 pinot grigo and 1 Cotes du Rhone, that's a serious concern.. What if the canned manhattan clam chowder is too heavy for the pinot grigio but the Cotes du Rhone is too tannic? What if I finish the pinot grigio before I get to the canned lemon and pepper tuna? Should I pair the can of corned beef with a Chateauneuf Du Pape instead of the Rhone? I gotta think this through again. It's a good thing cheese isn't involved.

I guess nobody answers this becuase it is a diffficult one... Anyway, the best way to prepare for disasters it is to have a good provition of cannned food:



And then, of course, the best is to do it yourself if at all possible:





Then, you should keep them very well wrapped into a hard wood box. Crazy, but it works and it save lives...

Hope everything goes fine there Ken, take a lot of care please...

Nestor

Well fortunately Irene passed as if nothing had happened. Quite underwhelming really, but I guess it's a good thing. There are some flooding damage, mostly affecting people with basements. There was widespread power outage, but it's far from the entire area being wiped out. The infrastructure held out pretty well, though again, the winds were barely stronger, or as strong as a regular thunderstorm. People were quite bummed as it was supposed to be some sort of historic event, but the disappointment was for the better.

I did learn a great deal about reading weather maps after staring at them for nearly 2 days straight. I've used the NOAA website since scuba diving so being able to quickly scan through their public addresses was handy. Seems like essentially, that's the info that radio meteorologists go by.

I was also reminded of the NOAA weather radio service, which is a broadcast on a special frequency range. You need a special radio to listen to it (what a dumb idea), but in case of a power outage, being able to get NOAA info asap is very important. I remembered that after Wilma, I was thinking of buying one, but never did. Maybe now is a good time to get one.

I did have a tiny radio (regular) that I bought before Wilma, and this time I was able to get local news regarding subways etc, through AM radio. Internet will get you weather info, but for local info, it seems like radio is still the best way. It's weird, right? The thing is radio stations actively try to get city officials to call in for an update, so their ability to actively collect data into one place makes it a more powerful source of info than the internet. (where you have to actively find info, which may already be outdated) Plus, there seems to be a system in place to make sure timely information is broadcast via radio. The internet really isn't a great candidate for a primary source of info during a hurricane anyway since you're likely to lose power very early on, and not get it back 'till days or weeks after. iPhone can't save you either since the cell network is going to be congested. Now even more so with people twittering and facebooking and other crap that doesn't benefit the general public. (since it just disperses info everywhere, making it hard to collect and create a good overall understanding of what is going on)

But overall, after Katrina, Wilma, an now Irene, I've come to appreciate the complexity of a hurricane as a meteorological phenomenon. It's one of those raw events that make you feel the pulse of nature. And learning about these things sheds light on many facets of local history, climate interaction, and new technologies surrounding these phenomena. The relationship with natural disasters is not take it or leave it, it's always going to be there. The least I can do is to take interest in what makes it tick, in an effort to coexist.

Lastly, I'll repeat: If you get hurricanes / tornadoes, other natural disasters once in a while, think about getting a NOAA radio. They can be pretty cheap, and a hand crank one is completely self sustaining. (and usually comes with a light) Get one with a regular radio tuner as well, so you can get updates even if it's just a wide scale power outage.

face it Ken-
in a city the size of NY, if you need the radio, it's too late. there is no safe place, certainly after the second week. oh yeah, only the really bad people will be armed(the police will barricade themselves into shelters) because the city has now outlawed firearms for the responsible citizens. power's a big problem, but you know, there are only two big old pipes that the cities water supply comes in from, with two old valves that can't be turned off for maintenance any more. the real horror wouldn't be loss of power, it'd be the panic over the lack of water, if the supply were to be interrupted by contamination or rupture.

but that's part of the beauty of life in the city.

the NOAA report isn't for regular people. they gonna die.

we have fires, earthquakes, pestilence and gangs over here. you have storms, pestilence and gangs over there and now you've added earthquakes. good, that makes it even.

i'm glad you're all ok, and i hope that those who were flooded recover quickly...

same here
even spared a joke how he could get into this without a Longuedoc-Roussilion... in case the Cote du Rhone might fail...

as some contrast I recently found a Japanese site fascinating. In particular this Koto piece
I once used a sample of that instrument without any idea what it looked like - and how it really sounds. Wow.

cheers, Tom

Thanks Tom for the link to the vid.

I have some problems with that. There is a picture in my studio, there are ,not lied, aprox. one hundred pianos row beside row in a room all play at the same time.
It is a piano school. Want to say, is this music real self lived through experience, expressed with tears or joy, or is it just learnt perfection ?

This thread reminds me on a computer game, it is called Operation Flashpoint, a tactical shooter, where the US fights against Asia. It has a score, it starts with old traditional music from Asia and gets overtaken by heroic US war music. The composer made a good job but I had to laugh and switched off the music very soon.

I 'know' Ken for some years now and it is interesting how he changed or at least evolved with the move to NYC.

There were no concerns about a bad wine when people die few towns down south due a hurricane before it reaches your town.

No critic, I know this is life and it is constantly changing and it changes you of course, always interesting.

They trully feel it Chris

of course I sneaked the link into the thread hoping Ken might provide some context.
This seems to be some 'sophisticated' music, certainly based on some tradition, but no idea how 'traditional' it is...
At least in one of the vids the young lady is tuning the Koto to a C major scale if I got that right
But I found the presentation of those bare 'tones' very interesting.

I also found it 'interesting' (or maybe even bewildering - according to your last sentence) that I stepped into this during a 'nearly' catastrophe, while on the opposite side of the globe another catastrophe just recently had struck people likely for decades.
The Tsunami damage is very obvious - and it will easily heal... but they seem to find Cesium all over country now.
It's just not in the top news media atm.
Ken's irony of the wine selection fitted most perfectly. Looks like we're all Monty Python somehow today.
But ... that's the way it goes... Towns van Zandt, Pancho and Lefty...

cheers, Tom

ps

There were no concerns about a bad wine when people die few towns down south due a hurricane before it reaches your town

you bet that on a 'regular' workday some more people would have been killed in traffic or household accidents...

So let us keep our learn or felt traditions, experiences ad port them to the future for anybody who is interested in them.

good point - we should at least try to make something out of the mess

cheers, Tom