Quake Rattles 4 States; No Damage Reported

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 shook buildings in at least four states Friday, but apparently caused little or no damage.

The afternoon quake was centered in northwest Pennsylvania, about 15 miles northeast of Sharon, according to a statement released by the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo.

“I thought the whole house was going to fall down. It shook that hard. I thought it was a tornado,” said Patty Cook, 28, of Jamestown, a small city near the quake’s epicenter.

The quake was felt in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit and the Buffalo, N.Y., area but was still relatively minor, said John Minsch, geophysicist for the Geological Survey.

“It was moderate, probably enough to knock things off of shelves, but we wouldn’t expect extensive damage,” Minsch said.

A magnitude-5 quake can produce moderate damage.

“It was like riding on a bumpy road,” said Steve Fought, a campaign spokesman for U.S. Senate candidate Mary Boyle, who felt the tremor at his office in downtown Cleveland.

Vania Stefanova, an attorney working in her office on the 19th floor of a Cleveland office building, thought something was wrong with her desk.

“It was a jolt,” she said.