Is Brooklyn Vulnerable to an Earthquake at Indian Point Nuclear Reactor Upstate?

In the aftermath of the immense 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan, politicians and pundits began to re-examine the question of whether the greater New York area could suffer an earthquake, and what impact it might have on a 40-year old nuclear reactor in Indian Point.

Seismically Smug No More, Brooklyn

From the perspective of seismically smug Brooklynites, who consider earthquakes as something for their kindred spirits in California to worry about, it's shocking to think that New York is more likely to suffer an earthquake than Sacramento.

And although New Yorkers are more likely to talk metaphorically about seismic shifts in the art world or gyrations in the stock market than the Richter scale, it turns out that, statistically speaking, an earthquake could indeed impact the east coast — and impact even Brooklyn.

How far is Brooklyn from Indian Point nuclear plant?

NYC in Top 5 Cities Likely to Suffer Earthquake, Say Seismologists

In 2008, a study by Lynn R. Sykes and John Armbruster of Earth Institute at Columbia University sounded the alarm about a possible earthquake near Indian Point. The authors drew attention to the fact that one of the plants at the Indian Point complex sits just a mile from an intersection of two fault lines in the Ramapo Seismic Zone.

A summary of the article, "Earthquakes May Endanger New York More Than Thought" identifies Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant as a "particular risk." It says, "Due to New York’s past history, population density and fragile, interdependent infrastructure, a 2001 analysis by the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranks it (as among) the 11th most at-risk U.S. city for earthquake damage." The report ranks the most at-risk US cities as follows:

1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. Seattle
4. Portland
5. New York
6. Salt Lake City
7. Sacramento
8. Anchorage

(Other studies, including a 2010 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists of the USA addressed the possibility of nuclear terrorism — and flagged security failures at Indian Point.)

So, although the question, "Is Brooklyn vulnerable to a possible meltdown at Indian Point?" may sound at first like the beginning of a Borscht Belt joke, it's not.

Time to Reconsider Indian Point — or Emergency Preparedness in Brooklyn?

Brooklyn residents who experienced September 11, 2001, remember the trauma of realizing that the unimaginable can happen in Brooklyn, and throughout New York City. For some time after that attack, emergency preparedness was on the public's mind. Some people stocked up on emergency water and food supplies. Since then, public anxiety over the possibility of sudden devastation seems to have morphed into mundane concerns, for instance anger about delayed snow removal from Park Slope's streets.

In light of the seismologists' concerns, perhaps it's time to reconsider reviving emergency preparedness in Brooklyn — or shutting down Indian Point.