One spot in New York is most likely to move the needle on the Richter Scale, but where?

First Off, Are Earthquakes Common In New York?

In reality, no, not so much. That at least is in the way you would imagine earthquakes. In New York overall we only see minor tremors.

In The Northeast, New York Sees The Most

According to some data from NESEC, New York from 1737 until 2016 had endured 551 earthquakes in total. While that may not seem like much over a near 300-year span, in comparison with other Northeastern states, it is a tremendous amount.

By comparison, in such a timeframe, Vermont has only dealt with 50 earthquakes or so.

How Possible Is It To Experience A Major Earthquake?

From time to time, a major earthquake could impact New York State. When it comes to "the big one", one city in New York State is more likely to see an earthquake of that magnitude.

What City Is Most Common?

In New York, we are used to seeing New York City getting credit for things, or being what people think first when they think of New York. In the case of Earthquakes, they indeed have the highest likelihood in the entire state.

That is mainly due to 6 fault lines that are in or surround the nearby area of New York City. One of which runs straight through Central Park in Manhattan. Verisk even says every 100 years, New York City is prone to a magnitude 5 earthquake. While they may see very minor tremors, a major earthquake hasn't struck NYC in well over 100 years.

Other common areas for earthquakes to happen in New York State are the Northern Adirondacks, and Western New York.