Magnitude 5.5 quake felt from Pennsylvania to Vermont, according to U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Geological Survey map showing the location of today's magnitude 5.5 earthquake about 40 miles north of Ottawa, Canada.This story reported by Douglass Dowty, Elizabeth Doran and John Mariani
Syracuse, NY – At least one magnitude-5.5 earthquake with an epicenter near Ottawa, Canada, sent tremors across Central New York and much of the Northeast this afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Preliminary information indicates the earthquake was based about 40 miles north to northeast of the Canadian capital, about 166 miles from Syracuse. But tremors could have registered as far away as Maryland, said USGS geophysicist Bruce Presgrave.
The quake struck at 1:41 p.m. near Cumblerland, Ontario, at a depth of 9.9 miles, according to the USGS website.
A second earthquake, also in the Ottawa River Valley, was reported about 10 minutes after the first one, he said. The second earthquake has not been confirmed.
Tremors have been felt from Erie, Pa., to Burlington, Vt., according to USGS personnel. Cities across Upstate New York felt the aftershocks.
An earthquake of that size, 5.5 magnitude, is unusual for this area, said Jeff Karson, who chairs the Earth Sciences department at Syracuse University.
"That's a pretty big earthquake for this part of the country,'' he said. "We don't usually have them that big around here."
People in the department started a pool on how big and how far away the earthquake was as soon as they felt it, and one person guessed greater than 5 magnitude, Karson said.
Most earthquakes felt around here occur in the Adirondacks, he said.
Earthquakes occur all the time, but they are usually too small to feel. "The bigger they are, the less frequently they occur,''' Karson said.
This quake was likely felt throughout Central New York. Residents can expect to feel an earthquake tremor every few years, he said.
» Read the story: Central New Yorkers react to quake
Onondaga County E-911 is getting inundated with calls about the earthquake, said Norma Barone, a supervisor at the emergency communications center on Onondaga Hill.
“We’re getting called from Cicero to the city to everywhere,” Barone said.
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