Massive Russian Quake ‘Felt’ in Upstate New York 5K Miles Away

Mother Nature Ain't Playing

Chalk this one up as Mother Nature's not-so-subtle way of reminding us how powerful she is, and how infinitely small we are: The earthquake that hit Russia on Tuesday was picked up by an earthquake sensor in Binghamton, New York, nearly 5,000 miles away.

According to Howard Mange, the Chief Meteorologist at WBNG-TV, the Russian earthquake last night was 'felt' by the seismometer in Binghamton, NY, which is about 2 hours and 20 minutes southwest of Albany.

How It Played Out

I'm going to attempt to put this in layman's terms if that's even possible.

• The report states that about 11 minutes after the quake happened, the first wave, called the "P wave," reached Binghamton. This one moves the fastest and travels kind of like a sound wave through the Earth.
• Then, around 22 minutes in, the "S wave" arrived. Manges explained that this one moves more slowly than the P wave and shakes things side to side. It can’t travel through liquid, which is one reason scientists study it to learn about the Earth’s interior.

• Finally, at about 36 minutes, the surface waves showed up. These travel along the Earth’s surface and usually cause the most shaking during an earthquake. Because Russia is so far away, the surface waves took longer and arrived more spread out, according to the report. 

So basically, the earthquake's effects rippled across the globe, and sensitive equipment in New York documented this curious phenomenon.