Updated Nov. 9
People on the Cape and Islands and even up in the Boston area were greeted with a small earthquake Sunday morning.
According to a map from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGC), the earthquake was a 3.6 magnitude shake centered in Bliss Corner, a section of Dartmouth, slightly after 9 am, for about 10 to 15 seconds. Initial reports from the USGC put the quake at a 4.0 magnitude, but later downgraded it to 3.6.
Social media responded instantly, with people from all over the state reporting tremors.
After The MV Times asked in a tweet if other Islanders had felt the earthquake, Martha’s Vineyard Commissioner Ben Robinson tweeted that he felt the tremors in Katama. Robin Canha also tweeted she heard the quake in West Tisbury, adding “I thought my furnace was blowing up in the basement.”
Other users reported feeling the shake in Boston, Concord, and across Rhode Island.
People have been experiencing earthquakes in New England since at least colonial times.
“Moderately damaging earthquakes strike somewhere in the region every few decades, and smaller earthquakes are felt roughly twice a year,” according to USGS. “The Boston area was damaged three times within 28 years in the middle 1700s, and New York City was damaged in 1737 and 1884.
“The largest known New England earthquakes occurred in 1638 (magnitude 6.5) in Vermont or New Hampshire, and in 1755 (magnitude 5.8) offshore from Cape Ann, northeast of Boston. The Cape Ann earthquake caused severe damage to the Boston waterfront. The most recent New England earthquake to cause moderate damage occurred in 1940 (magnitude 5.6) in central New Hampshire.”
Updated to reflect the USGC downgrade to a 3.6 magnitude earthquake. — Ed.