Minor Earthquake Shakes Parts of New York

While much of the world's attention has been focused on the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on Monday, a smaller tremor occurred a lot closer to home Tuesday morning.

Earthquakes do sometimes happen in New York, as was evident in May 2023, when a small earthquake hit near Hastings-on-Hudson in Westchester County.

There have even been more earthquakes than normal over the past few years in New York state. A report posted at SI Live says there were 45 earthquakes recorded in two years, as of October 2023.

According to the NESEC, around 551 earthquakes were recorded in New York state from 1737 - 2016.

Earthquake Rattles New York City 

PIX11 says that a small magnitude 1.7 earthquake struck Astoria, Queens at 5:45 Tuesday morning.

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The United States Geological Survey says that the tremor struck at a depth of a little over three miles. PIX11 says that some on Roosevelt Island thought that they heard explosions early morning, though there were no reports of damage according to the Mayor's Office.

According to the according to the United States Geological Survey, the last earthquake to strike New York City was a magnitude 0.9 earthquake that hit Long Island City, Queens, on June 25, 2019.

Other Recent Earthquake Activity in New York State 

In mid-December, NBC had reported that a 2.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Canton, NY.

See Also: What's the Most Powerful Earthquake to Ever Strike New York State?

NBC says that the epicenter was near areas including Ogdensburg and Potsdam, just south of the Canadian border. The shaking occurred not too far from the Western Quebec Seismic Zone, which can produce larger earthquakes that can be felt up and down the eastern coast, especially here in New York.