PLATTSBURGH —
A very noticeable earthquake rumbled the North Country about 1:40 p.m. today.
People reported feeling the sustained shaking from Malone to Cadyville to Lake Placid to Elizabethtown.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the quake was centered 30 to 25 miles north of Ottawa and measured 5.5 magnitude. It was felt across a wide swath of northern and western New York.
Joel Kissane of Malone said the shaking lasted 10 to 15 seconds.
"I was in the kitchen near the stove, and a candle-holder we have was wobbling and the dishes in the cupboards were shaking, and I thought, 'What the heck was that?'" Kissane said.
COURTHOUSE CLEARED
The quake emptied the Franklin County Courthouse, where a court session was under way.
Press-Republican reporter Andrea VanValkenburg was there.
"The whole building shook like crazy," she texted the newsroom. "Shook so bad they stopped court for a few minutes."
Within minutes, people were talking about the quake on the Press-Republican Facebook site.
Terry Bunker Spinner, who lives in Altona, said it "really spooked my cats out."
Bunker-Spinner said at first she thought her washing machine had gone off line and was shaking the house.
"The whole house rumbled and the windows were rattling," she said.
Ron Hemingway said his dogs "knew it was coming just before we felt the rumble in Riverview."
NO aPPARENT DAMAGE
Clinton County Emergency Services Director Eric Day said no damage had been reported in the county about an hour after the quake.
"We're at a state of readiness right now, and we will monitor the situation, and if there is any damage reported we will respond," he said.
In the City of Plattsburgh, crews from Public Works and the Municipal Lighting Department were out checking to see if any damage was done.
New York State Electric and Gas employees were also surveying power lines and substations.
Clinton County Sheriff David Favro said he was in a meeting in the undersheriff's office when the quake hit.
"We heard it more than felt it," Favro said. "It sounded like a huge wind came by."
Favro said officers were out checking the grounds of the County Jail to see if there were any problems.
"We have a lot of concrete out here, and that's what concerns me."
BIGGEST QUAKE
The biggest quake to hit the North Country in recent years was a 5.1-magnitude shake that was centered in the AuSable Forks area on April 20, 2002. That was followed by sizable aftershocks on May 24 and June 25.
That earthquake caused damage that eventually warranted funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
— News Editor Lois Clermont contributed to this report.
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