Seismicity of the New York City area

Seismicity in New York City area. Data from U.S. Geological Survey (Top, USGS) and National Earthquake Information Center (Bottom, NEIC). In top figure, closed red circles show 1924–2006 epicenters. Open black circles show larger earthquakes of 1737, 1783 and 1884. Green lines are the Ramapo fault.

Seismicity of the New York City area is relatively low.[1] New York is less seismically active than California because it is far from any plate boundaries. Large and damaging intraplate earthquakes are relatively rare. When they do occur in the Northeastern United States, the areas affected by them are much larger than for earthquakes of similar magnitude on the West Coast of the United States. The largest known earthquake in the greater New York City area occurred in 1884, probably somewhere between Brooklyn and Sandy Hook, and had a magnitude of approximately 5. The New York quakes in 2023 and 2024 were shallow quakes.[2]

  1. ^ "AMNH Geology of NYC". American Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Thompson, Andrea. "Yes, You Did Feel an Earthquake in New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, and More". Scientific American. Archived from the original on April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2024.