An earthquake struck West Seneca, New York today. The quake and aftershocks were felt in Buffalo and surrounding areas. The magnitude ranked at 3.6, which is quite a significant shake.
The earthquake in New York happened only hours after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake, and consecutive earthquakes hit eastern Europe and the Middle East on the same day.
The quake was felt as far as Buffalo, New York, but the epicenter was reported to have been in West Seneca, New York. Surprisingly, the quake’s epicenter was recorded to have been only 3 kilometers (less than 2 miles) under the ground. Over five thousand people within the region have reported feeling the earthquake.
Seismologists studying seismic activity will usually look for previous activity and consider it when determining the severity of an earthquake when it strikes. In this case, there was none.
The only seismic activity that occurred before the West Seneca earthquake was reported earlier today in Europe. This isn’t surprising since the quake in Europe was as strong as it was. This was the most powerful earthquake to strike the region between Europe and the Middle East in over 200 years.
Residents living around Buffalo, New York reported:
“We live on a street where traffic tends to be fast and I’m always fearing somebody’s going to hit the house, and I thought it was a car maybe approaching our home, and then it just blew and I heard the sound. My husband slept through most of it, then I was worried it was our furnace, I didn’t know what it was, I was very rattled, I was.”
“I thought a car hit our house. My husband was up getting ready for work, we felt it and then heard on the news about the earthquake.”
“At first, I thought a truck hit my house, a picture fell off my shelf above me, and then I hollered for my husband because I thought something happened at the front of the house and he yelled, ‘what happened?’”
“It woke me up, and I literally felt the house shake. Nothing fell off the walls, so it wasn’t that drastic, but it was drastic enough for me.”
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