An earthquake shook western New York

WEST SENECA, NY (WIVB) — An earthquake occurred Monday morning in western New York, with a magnitude of 3.8.

The the epicenter of the earthquake it was located 1.3 miles east northeast of West Seneca.

“Around 6:15 a.m. EST today, many people in Buffalo, NY felt the earthquake strongly. For now, it is not known if there is any damage from the earthquake,” he said National Weather Service he said.

A number of WIVB callers report hearing it in places like Lackawanna, Kenmore, Buffalo, Amherst, Hamburg and West Seneca.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said that according to the Erie County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, “the confirmed earthquake was felt as far north as Niagara Falls and as far south as Orchard Park according to initial reports.”

“It felt like a car had hit my house in Buffalo,” Poloncarz said. “I jumped out of bed.”

West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson said he was not aware of any damage in the town as a result of the earthquake.

But further north, Mayor Byron Brown said a chimney collapsed on a car in north Buffalo.

This is not the first time western New York has experienced an earthquake. Just last year, a a minor earthquake occurred in Warsawregistered at magnitude 2.6.

Looking at southern Ontario and western New York as a whole, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) says the region has experienced “moderately frequent earthquakes since at least the first one reported in 1840.” The largest reported earthquake occurred near Attica in 1929 and registered a magnitude of 4.9, causing “moderate damage”.

“Earthquakes too small to cause damage are felt about three or four times a decade, although only one was felt in the 1940s and eight in the 1960s,” the USGS says.