Eastern Ohio hit with 4.0-magnitude earthquake

Eastern Ohio was hit by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, just a week after smaller tremor struck the region, CNN reported.

The earthquake struck 1.4 miles deep just outside of Youngstown. The epicenter of the earthquake is 55 miles southeast of Cleveland and 145 miles northeast from Columbus.

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Residents said they heard a loud boom along with the shaking, although the sheriff’s dispatchers from several counties said there were no immediate reports of damage, the Associated Press reported.

"It really shook, and it rumbled, like there was a sound," said Charles Kihm, 82, from Austintown, the AP reported. "It was loud. It didn't last long. But it really scared me."

A Youngstown police officer, Sgt. Michael Kawa, said the "tremor shook the whole building we were in," CNN reported. "A lot of house alarms, it shook the buildings. The fire department hasn't reported any major damage."

Still, there have been no early signs of damage in Youngstown and other areas of eastern Ohio. The quake was felt as far away as Michigan, Ontario, Pennsylvania and New York, according to reported Michael C. Hansen, state geologist and coordinator of the Ohio Seismic Network, part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Geological Survey, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

On Dec. 24 a quake that measured 2.4 struck the same area. In the last year, at least 10 earthquakes have hit the same area, generally with a magnitude of 2.7 or lower, the AP reported. Saturday’s earthquake was the strongest.

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