QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

New York

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in New York, at 3:33 am EDT on 12 August 2022 (07:33 UTC), 15 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 15 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N St. Lawrence County 44 kmFranklin County 75 kmClinton County 116 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
New York today
every earthquake in New York in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
St. Lawrence County, 44 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1484 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Norfolk, Norwood, Massena, Potsdam.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 The 1944 Massena, New York Earthquake · 34 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 Near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada · 19 km NE of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 44.8809, -75.1663. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
St. Lawrence County, NY 44 km (28 mi) S earthquakes near St. Lawrence County
Franklin County, NY 75 km (46 mi) ESE earthquakes near Franklin County
Clinton County, NY 116 km (72 mi) E earthquakes near Clinton County
Jefferson County, NY 121 km (75 mi) SW earthquakes near Jefferson County
Essex County, NY 140 km (87 mi) SE earthquakes near Essex County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

10 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 9 km N of Brasher Falls, New York
  2. 2.0 7 km NE of Potsdam, New York
  3. 1.6 1 km S of Massena, New York
  4. 2.2 5 km SE of Osgoode, Canada
  5. 2.2 8 km W of Saint Regis Falls, New York
  6. 1.6 8 km NNE of Rensselaer Falls, New York
  7. 2.8 8 km NNW of Canton, New York
  8. 1.8 1 km W of Ogdensburg, New York
  9. 2.1 7 km SW of Cornwall, Canada
  10. 2.2 9 km WNW of Massena, New York

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.