A 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the Northeast Friday morning. The earthquake was centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and shook buildings from Philadelphia to New Jersey and New York City to Connecticut and Westchester, New York. It could be felt as far south as Washington, D.C., and as far north as Maine, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Read More: ABCNews
Posted by Rachel Weiner on November 12, 2012 at 11:23 am
From states across the country, Americans have filed petitions on the White House Web site seeking to secede from the union and form new state governments.
Petitions have been filed for Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
White House will respond to any petition that receives 25,000 or more signatures within 30 days.
The petitions from Louisiana and Texas, however, are approaching the threshold for a response.
This last week has seen millions of peoples lives devastated by Super-Storm Sandy. Sandy was formed in the Caribbean and it took nine days until Sandy finally began to dissipate over Pennsylvania:
October 22nd
October 24th
October 26th
October 27th
October 28th
October 29th
October 30th
Super-Storm Sandy left 109 people dead in America, with 40 of the deaths in New York alone. Millions were left without power, gas, or food for days. It is estimated the damage caused by the storm will cost $50 billion.
As Sandy makes her way across the north east there have already been at least 13 deaths caused by the super-storm. This is expected to rise.
Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey. The storm surge in Manhattan caused by the storm has left lower Manhattan under water. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the surge was higher than even the highest predictions. Much of Manhattan is now without power, subways are flooded and water pours into Battery Tunnel – linking Lower Manhattan to Long Island. There are reports of an explosion in the Con Edison power station on the east side of Manhattan.
In New Jersey, the Oyster Creek nuclear plant has been placed on alert due to the rising water.
Expects warn the super-storm could remain over the country for the next 24-36 hours. Although the super-storm was downgraded from hurricane status after landfall, Meteorologists warn not to downplay the seriousness of the storm, which is still giving hurricane strength winds: this could be the worst storm in US history.
Disaster estimating firm Eqecat has forecast that Sandy could cost the economy between $10bn- $20bn. The New York Stock Exchange will remain closed again today.