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Newberry sleeps through earthquake

Hundreds of earthquakes occur throughout the world every day.

For the most part, they amount to tiny rumblings of the ground in the way of small seismic tremors that are barely, if at all, felt by humans.

A tremor that occurred early Tuesday morning had its epicenter in the west end of the city of Williamsport, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It registered 2.3 on the Richter scale.

Officially, the tremor occurred at 4:53 a.m. one mile south of Garden View, placing it in the Newberry section of the city.

“We didn’t feel anything here,” said city Police Capt. Tim Miller. “We didn’t get any calls.”

Lycoming County Department of Public Safety Director John Yingling said no injuries or damage was reported.

“We have been monitoring the USGS website and have not seen any aftershocks,” he said.

Earthquakes occur as the result of movements from enormous pieces of rock that comprise the Earth’s surface.

The rocks collide and rub up against each other.

As a result, pulses of energy are released, often in the form of tremors, but occasionally large-scale, even destructive earthquakes can occur.

In August 2011, vibrations and shakings from an earthquake reportedly centered near Mineral, Va., were felt along the Eastern seaboard, including Lycoming County.

No injuries were reported, although various offices in downtown Williamsport were evacuated of personnel following the earthquake.

The magnitude of that earthquake was measured at 5.9.

Very large earthquakes, such as the 1964 Alaskan earthquake, which caused millions of dollars in damage, measured 9.2 on the Richter scale.

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