Moderate to strong earthquakes have struck Oklahoma and New York in recent days, generating tens of thousands of reports to USGS, via their “Did you feel it?” online reporting website, of people feeling shaking or seeing things move or become knocked over. There have been no reports of injuries from these earthquakes at this time.
The first earthquake struck just north of the U.S. / Canada border above New York state; the magnitude 3.2 event, a moderate event for the region, struck at 7:37 am on Thursday, generating 377 “Did you feel it?” reports. Striking just outside of Huntingdon, Canada from a depth of 7 km, the earthquake was felt throughout the Ottawa and Montreal suburbs as well as large portions of upstate New York. The epicenter was located half way between Montpelier, Vermont and Ottawa, Canada.
According to USGS, earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0, as this event did, more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.