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NYC Earthquakicane Armageddon: Random distibutions and the folly of correlation

Explore the unlikely chance of a New York City earthquake hurricane happening simultaneously and the myths around such correlations.

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This week got me thinking - what are the chances that New York City could experience shaking from > M5 east coast earthquakeand potentially be struck by a Category 2-3 hurricane in the same week? I have no idea how to do that math - but I would venture to guess that the chances are very, very small (like 'being killed by a banana that was dropped from a zeppelin' small).

So, if we're having two major events in the same week - earthquake and hurricane - how come nobody is trying to claim that they are related (well, nobody yet) to create an "earthquakicane", but there are people trying to say that earthquakes on different sides of the continent (and planet) are directly related? I mean, what are the chances that we would have a > M5 earthquake in southern Colorado and in northern Virginia on the same day? ...

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