Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Western new Yorkers woke up Monday to a 'boom' and a 'shake', lighting up 911 lines and calls to WBEN.
A small earthquake rumbled through western New York early Monday, alarming people in a region unaccustomed to such shaking but apparently causing no significant damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey preliminarily reported a 3.8 earthquake centered east of Buffalo in the suburb of West Seneca at about 6:15 a.m. 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.
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.
"Something hit the house," Elaine in West Seneca told WBEN as she said it was the first thought that came to her mind. "I've never had anything like that," she said as she recalls feeling the rumble and hearing a boom. "The noise, oh my God."
"It was just a jolt," West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson told WBEN. "Just a bang and that was it." Dickson grew up in California and recalls many earthquakes in his past.
One woman in East Aurora tells WBEN her bed was shaking as she woke up.
"I felt the floor shake,' Carl in Alden told WBEN as he called in after he felt the floor move and his dog jumped up.
"This felt like it was right under our apartment building," Kelly told us. "I'm still shaking," she said.
Earthquake Canada, which measured a 4.2 magnitude event, reported it was felt slightly in southern Ontario.
Small earthquakes are not unusual in upstate New York but are rarely felt as strongly. The earthquake comes on the heels of two record-breaking weather events in the region: A snowstorm that dropped as much as 7 feet of snow in November and a blizzard in December that is blamed for 47 deaths.
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.
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