The 1884 Earthquake

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake, with an epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Far Rockaway, Queens, rattled New York in 1884. This was when Copiague was called East Amityville. Property damage was severe in Amityville and Jamaica, New York.

top

On August 10, 1884, at 19:07 UTC, a magnitude 5.5, intensity VII earthquake hit the east coast of the United States. This severe earthquake affected an area roughly extending along the Atlantic Coast from southern Maine to central Virginia and westward to Cleveland, Ohio. Chimneys were knocked down and walls were cracked in several States, including Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Property damage was severe at Amityville and Jamaica, New York, where several chimneys were “overturned” and large cracks formed in walls. Two chimneys were thrown down and bricks were shaken from other chimneys at Stratford (Fairfield County), Conn.; water in the Housatonic River was agitated violently. At Bloomfield, N.J., and Chester, Pa., several chimneys were downed and crockery was broken. Chimneys were also damaged at Mount Vernon, N.Y., and Allentown, Easton, and Philadelphia, Pa.

Three shocks occurred, the second of which was most violent. This earthquake also was reported as felt in Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Several slight aftershocks were reported on August 11.

top

Web Explorations

The Copiague Information about the 1884 earthquake from the U.S Geological Survey http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1884_08_10.php

This site has a great map of recent quakes around the world in the last 8-30 days. http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/qed/