Strongest earthquake in 40 years felt across Western New York

Monday morning’s 3.8 magnitude earthquake did little more than rattle nerves around the Western New York area.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake, which happened at 6:15 a.m., was centered in the Town of West Seneca, in an area between Mineral Springs and Indian Church roads. It occurred at a depth of almost 2 miles down. Seismologist Yaareb Altaweel said it matched the intensity of the strongest earthquake the region has seen in 40 years of available records — a 3.8 quake that was recorded in November 1999.

Earthquake Canada, which measured a 4.2 magnitude event, reported it was felt slightly in southern Ontario.

City and county crews spent part of the day inspecting bridges and roads in New York, finding no immediate damage, officials said.

“Fortunately, we have no earthquake related injuries either —and I pray that remains the case,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said in a statement.

On Twitter and other social media sites, dozens of residents across Western New York and southern Ontario reported feeling the quake when it hit. Many people living in the Niagara Falls area reported feeling the quake early Monday.

“It felt like a car hit my house in Buffalo. I jumped out of bed,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted. County emergency services officials confirmed the earthquake was felt in at least a 30-mile radius, including in Niagara Falls, about 20 miles north of Buffalo, he said.

In a statement, the National Weather Service confirmed that an earthquake “was felt strongly by many people” in the Buffalo area.

Small earthquakes are not unusual in upstate New York but are rarely felt as strongly. The quake offered a reminder, Brown said, that the region is on a significant fault line known as the Clarendon-Linden fault system. It runs through Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, and Allegany counties.

The earthquake occurred hours after a powerful quake killed hundreds in Turkey and Syria. A USGS spokesperson said there is no connection between the two events.