An earthquake measuring 1.3 on the Richter scale shook the Arbutus area of Baltimore County Monday morning in what geologists said may be the first locally-originating quake in more than a decade.
The 8:30 a.m. quake shook homes and shops near the University of Maryland Baltimore County corridor, about two miles from the heart of Arbutus and three miles from downtown Catonsville, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The government agency recorded vibrations five kilometers below the earth?s surface, but Dr. James Reger, a geologist with Maryland?s Department of Natural Resources, said the quake may have been much shallower.
“It was definitely bigger than your average quarry blast,” Reger said. “That?s considered very, very shallow for normal earthquake status, but even at that depth, people shouldn?t have felt it.”
Many didn?t. An employee at Leon?s Triple L Restaurant on East Drive in Arbutus said she felt a small “boom.” But Donna Marino, who works at nearby Sorrento?s pizza shop, was surprised to learn an earthquake had hit several hours earlier.
“I was awake and here and didn?t feel a thing,” she said.
Earthquakes measuring two or less on the Richter scale ? a one to 10 magnitude scale ? are generally considered “micro” quakes and occur about 8,000 times per day.
But not often in Maryland. The U.S. Geological Survey most recently recorded three “seismic events” in February 2005. Howard County?s Columbia experienced a rash of tremors in 1993, and two hit Randallstown in 1991, Reger said. None registered bigger than a 2.7 on the Richter scale, he said.
“They?re never big enough to cause any damage,” he said.
Monday?s earthquake was recorded on a seismograph machine at a reporting station in the Soldier?s Delight park in Owings Mills.
