Plate Tectonics

We got ourselves an earthquake in New York City today.  

I was waiting for the uptown R train at the City Hall station to go meet a friend in the Village. I usually try to stand away from all the people for a better chance at a less crowded car and today I decided to walk forward to where the first or second subway car would stop. As I waited, the station started to fill up. Not crowded, but getting fuller. A few people were standing nearby.

As it is often the case with New York City subway stations, you can hear the rumble of traffic from the street above. I heard the beeping of a truck backing up. It stopped, and then I saw the fluorescent lights above my head start to shake a bit. I figured it must be the truck idling directly above my head. The shaking continued for several seconds, then intensified to where the lights were swaying back and forth.

It got creepy.

As the strong shaking continued, the steps down to the station started to groan, as if the dinosaur cast of Jurassic Park was giving chase to a group of unsuspecting tourists. It got really  loud for a split second. And then it was over. No one panicked or screamed. 

My train came and I left. It wasn’t until I got to where I was going and came above ground and saw the sidewalks crowded with office dwellers that it dawned on me that something significant had happened. Through my magical superpowers (eavesdropping on loud conversations) I gathered an earthquake hit New York.

And that’s my story.