Earthquake felt in NNY Sunday afternoon

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Yes, that was an earthquake you felt Sunday afternoon.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was centered half a mile west, northwest of Adams Center. (An earlier, unofficial report from Google put the quake at 4.7.)

A map of the earthquake on the USGS web site shows it centered on Green Settlement Road, at a depth of 8.9 kilometers.

It struck at 2:10 PM, according to the USGS. The earthquake was followed by five aftershocks, ranging in strength from magnitude 1.3 to magnitude 1.5. The first aftershock was recorded at 2:21 PM; the last, at 3:12 PM.

This was the second earthquake in just over a week to be centered on Green Settlement Road. The first one, on April 14, was magnitude 2.6.

The quake was strong enough to shake houses and the ground, and early on people reported it on social media from far and wide.

Brenda Maxson of Fowler posted to the 7 News Facebook page “House rattled, heard vibration/rumble.”

She wasn’t alone. Posters from Tupper Lake, Clayton, Theresa, Oswego, Potsdam, Hammond and Copenhagen chimed in to report feeling the quake.

“Real scary here on Winslow St in the city! Sounded like the house was falling in,” Susan Burgess of Watertown noted.

“Very strong in Henderson and so was the aftershock. I’m born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area on CA and have felt huge ones that were deadly. Been in Northern NY for over 25 yrs and never felt an earthquake this strong here,” wrote Kimmie Jane.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or injury.

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake is strong enough to be felt, but only causes minor damage.

About half a million such earthquakes are reported annually.

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