US

Western New York Hit With Strongest Earthquake In 40 Years

Photo by JOED VIERA/AFP via Getty Images

James Lynch Investigative Reporter
Font Size:

A 3.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the city of Buffalo, New York, Monday morning, the most intense in the area in the past 40 years.

The earthquake struck 1.24 miles east of West Seneca, New York, and had a depth of 1.86 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). West Seneca is a suburb of Buffalo located about 10 miles from the city along I-190. The earthquake occurred at about 6:15 a.m., and it remains unknown if any damage occurred, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). (RELATED: Turkey And Syria Rocked By Massive Earthquake, More Than 1,000 People Reported Dead)

Earthquakes Canada reported a 4.2 magnitude seismic event at the same time due to the blast’s proximity to the U.S.-Canada border. Its range stretched from nearby towns such as Lackawanna, Cheektowaga and Depew to Toronto, Canada, located 66 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter, according to USGS.

A 3.8 magnitude earthquake is typically one witnesses can feel, and usually causes minor amounts of damage, Michigan Tech’s earthquake scale shows. Western New York felt a similar earthquake of 2.6 magnitude in March 2022, and the region has experienced 24 earthquakes over 2.5 magnitude since 1983, according to NBC News.

The region has had a moderate amount of earthquakes since the first one was reported in 1840, USGS reported. Earthquakes too small to cause major damage are typically experienced three to four times per decade in western New York and southern Ontario, according to the agency.