Was That a Subway Train?
Unlike the predictions in Popular Mechanics and Science and Invention, this article tried to calm down any fears with some reassurances that sound pretty interesting in hindsight.
The September 23, 1923, Chattanooga Daily Times explained:
Scientists agree that unless some marked change comes about that New York City has small reason to remain awake at night wondering if the thunder of the passing subway train or the jolt of the loaded truck passing in the street outside is but the preliminary quiver of the earth which will bring down these tall buildings in a mass of twisted, smoking ruins.
The idea that an earthquake in New York might be mistaken for a loud truck or a subway train definitely happened, as anyone who was on X could tell you Friday morning.
“I know NYC has warped my brain bc the earthquake happened and for the first 10 seconds as my building shook I was like ‘is that a train? wait…I don’t live above the subway,’” writer David Mack wrote in a tweet expressing the same confusion that was echoed repeatedly on social media.
