Small Earthquake in Central Maryland Caused A Few Small Rumbles in MoCo Late Tuesday Night

A 2.0 magnitude earthquake occurred a couple miles ESE of Sykesville in Carroll County at 11:49pm on Tuesday night. Small rumbles from the earthquake could be felt as far out as Montgomery County, according to a map shared by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Per the Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Maryland experienced an earthquake at 11:49 pm last night. The magnitude of the earthquake at its epicenter is calculated to be 2.0. The epicenter is calculated to be 2.9 miles East-Southeast of Sykesville, MD and 6.3 miles west of Randallstown, MD. The depth of the earthquake is 4 kilometers. The calculated magnitude of 2.0 is an earthquake that some people can feel; however, little to no damage is expected due to the earthquake. Homes around the epicenter may have experienced light shaking of pictures or dishes hung on the wall. The quake is mostly felt by people in higher floors of buildings and/or people at rest very close to the epicenter.

As of 6:20 a.m., 181 people reported that they felt the earthquake to the USGS event page with everyone reporting only very light activity. Earthquakes occur in this central Maryland area a few times a year at the 1 to 2 magnitude level. Columbia, MD is the location of the greatest amount of Maryland earthquakes. This earthquake is just to the north of that area. Earthquakes occur in this area due to ancient geologic faults in the earth that were made hundreds of millions of years ago when the North American continent was being made. These faults are internal faults that are very different than the faults we hear about in California. The faults in Maryland a more like cracks in a pie crust vs. one continental plate going underneath another continental plate.

Seismologists can not predict earthquakes and there is no way that we can detect when the next earthquake in Maryland will occur.