BALTIMORE, MD—An earthquake was reported in Maryland late Tuesday night.
The Department of Natural Resources reports that the state experienced an earthquake at 11:49 p.m. on October 11th. The magnitude of the earthquake at its epicenter is calculated to be 2.0. The epicenter was approximately 2.9 miles East-Southeast of Sykesville, MD and 6.3 miles west of Randallstown, MD. The depth of the earthquake was 4 kilometers.
The calculated magnitude of 2.0 is an earthquake that some people can feel; however, little to no damage is expected due to the earthquake. Homes around the epicenter may have experienced light shaking of pictures or dishes hung on the wall. The quake was mostly felt by people in higher floors of buildings and/or people at rest very close to the epicenter.
As of 6:20 a.m. on Wednesday, 181 people reported that they felt the earthquake to the USGS event page with everyone reporting only very light activity.
Earthquakes occur in this part of Maryland area a few times a year at the 1 to 2 magnitude level. Columbia, MD is the location of the greatest amount of Maryland earthquakes. This earthquake was just to the north of that area.
DNR says that earthquakes occur in this area due to ancient geologic faults in the earth that were made hundreds of millions of years ago when the North American continent was being made.
