ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – After the earthquake in Buffalo on Monday morning, people might ask the question, “How often do earthquakes happen in New York State?”

The earthquake in Buffalo reached a magnitude of 3.8 on the Richter scale. This resulted in houses getting cracks on the walls and bricks getting shaken off of chimneys. Bricks can be seen on sidewalks in parts of Buffalo neighborhoods.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake in Buffalo could also be felt in parts of Canada, including the Toronto area. As for earthquakes in New York State in general, it is pretty rare for a large earthquake to happen.

“Large, damaging earthquakes do not occur very often in New York State,” said Jessica Turner, geophysicist for USGS. “Specifically in the southern area, they don’t tend to happen very often. We do locate earthquakes in this area anywhere from below magnitudes 1.0 all the way up into about the mid 3.0’s. Again, they don’t occur often, but we do locate the very small ones on a daily basis.”

The largest earthquake in New York State was measured at a magnitude of 5.7. This happened in Massena, NY in September of 1944.