In California, any temblor less than 4.5 on the Richter Scale isn't even worth a little chit-chat by the water cooler, but in New York, anytime the earth shakes, people notice.
A reader sent in this message:
Workers at the Attica Prison have reported feeling an earth tremor that shook the building and has also been felt in other areas of attica. Has this been felt in other places as well or just Attica?
The USGS Web site, which notes any tremor of 1.0 or greater, does not list any earth movement in Western New York.
UPDATE: We just received this e-mail:
My mom just called me and told me there was a very large boom at her house outside of attica and it shook her house pretty good and my aunt who lives in the town of attica also heard it and it shook her house also. Do you know what it was???????
UPDATE II: I just called the Attica Police Department. They've receive reports, too. The boom was about an hour ago. "We have not been able to confirm what it was," a dispatcher said.
UPDATE III: USGS now confirms an Earthquake:
Magnitude: 2.9
Date-Time: 11:07:52
Location: 42.828°N, 78.248°W
Depth: 3.1 miles
Three miles from Attica, five miles from Alexander.
By New York standards the
By New York standards the fault line that runs through Attica is fairly active. I recall at least two similar reports of quakes in my life time. A major quake (5.2) occured on Aug. 12, 1929 with extensive damage being reported. The fault is known as the Clarendon-Linden fault line, which runs from the northern shore of Lake Ontario to Allegany County. It is part of a series of faults associated with the Niagara region, and is responsible for significant seismic activity in the state. The most destructive quake in the region happened in 1944 and was centered at Massena-Cornwall (5.6).
The system's name denotes the town of Clarendon. It is fairly well studied because of its activity and proximity to major population/industrial centers. Although characterized as "not a strong threat," it is estimated that seismic activity akin to the 1929 event could occur anywhere in the Eastern Great Lakes Basin.
In Genesee County, the C-LF crosses the western side of the Black Creek watershed. The fault zone forms a prominent escarpment that can be viewed along the campus of Genesee Community College.
Good information, C.M.,
Good information, C.M., thanks.