Mild earthquake felt in the Buffalo area

WXXI News | By Randy Gorbman

Published February 6, 2023 at 1:26 PM EST

A relatively mild earthquake, measuring a 3.8 magnitude, was felt in the Buffalo area early Monday morning, 2/6/23

There was an earthquake in the Buffalo area early Monday morning.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey it had a three-point magnitude, and was centered just outside of West Seneca.

It happened at about 6:15 a.m.

So far, there’s no word of any injuries and no reports of major damage.

Kristen Kimmick lives in downtown Buffalo, and she said that the earthquake happened about 15 minutes before her alarm was going to go off.

“So many different things went through my mind when you wake up to that; did a car just hit the house? They’re doing renovations in my apartment building, did something just explode in the basement? I’ll say earthquake wasn’t my first thought,” said Kimmick.

Experts say that earthquakes in the 3.0 to 3.9 magnitude range are often felt, but rarely cause damage.

Jeff Over is a Professor of Geological Sciences at SUNY Geneseo. He said Monday's earthquake in Buffalo really is not all that unusual.

“Earthquakes of this magnitude are actually relatively common in New York, we experience ones that are less than 4 or 3 on the modified Richter Scale ever so often," noted Over. "The most significant in New York recent history was actually up in Massena, New York which is a range of 5."

Overton said there is series of geological faults in Western New York, one that goes through the Buffalo area and also the Clarendon-Linden area.

"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.

Small earthquakes are not unusual in upstate New York but are rarely felt as strongly.

The western New York 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.

This story includes reporting by the Associated Press.