Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The Oct. 16 earthquake was felt by some, but not others.
Are you wondering why you didn't feel the Oct. 16 earthquake? The earthquake was felt by some people in towns west of Boston, but not by others, even in the same town. Earthquake shaking tends to be amplified in soft soil conditions, according John Ebel, the director of the Weston Observatory, which studies and monitors earthquakes. If you live near a landfill, you will likely feel shaking more strongly than if you live on rock formations, Ebel said. Also, some buildings have a stronger tendency to shake more than others, Ebel said. For example, some residents near the Virginia earthquake in 2011 felt the tremors, while others did not, he said. Ebel spoke to Patch in the wake of the earthquake, after Twitter and Facebook lit up with users …
New England is home to regular earthquake activity.
New Englanders from Maine to Massachusetts and perhaps as far away as Rhode Island felt the 4.6 magnitude earthquake centered in Lake Arrowhead, Maine early Tuesday night. It was the largest earthquake in New England since 1982 when a 4.7 quake centered in Laconia, New Hampshire shook homes and rattled shelves. Dr. John Ebel, a geophysics professor at Boston College and director of the Weston Observatory Boston College, said earthquakes start to cause damage when they reach a 5.0 magnitude. As far tonight’s quake goes, he suspects that homes near the epicenter may have had some dishes rattle and cracking in old plaster walls. New England is no stranger to earthquake activity. The last earthquake to reach the 4.0 threshold was in 2006, a 4…
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
An earthquake was felt all across the North Shore, and in Swampscott, on Tuesday evening.
An earthquake centered in Maine just shook the North Shore. It occurred at about 7:15 p.m. The quake, a 4.5 on the Richter scale, was centered in Lake Arrowhead, Maine, which is in York County about 30 miles west of Portland. No major problems or injuries have immediately been reported in Swampscott. The Swampscott police station received about 10 calls, as of 7:20 p.m., from residents reporting the shaking, according to the department. A firefighter said they felt the rumble at the Swampscott Fire Station but nothing fell and there was no damage to the building. They also received a call from a resident who reported feeling the shaking on Atlantic Avenue.
An earthquake was felt all across the North Shore, and in Swampscott, on Tuesday evening.
An earthquake centered in Maine just shook the North Shore. It occurred at about 7:15 p.m. The quake, a 4.5 on the Richter scale, was centered in Lake Arrowhead, Maine, which is in York County about 30 miles west of Portland. No major problems or injuries have immediately been reported in Swampscott. The Swampscott police station received about 10 calls, as of 7:20 p.m., from residents reporting the shaking, according to the department. A firefighter said they felt the rumble at the Swampscott Fire Station but nothing fell and there was no damage to the building. They also received a call from a resident who reported feeling the shaking on Atlantic Avenue.
A 4.5 magnitude quake in Maine shook homes in Swampscott Tuesday night.
Did you feel that shaking? An earthquake near Lake Arrowhead, Maine rattled homes and teeth all the way down into Boston Tuesday night. Preliminary measurements by the U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred 16.8 miles underground and hit 4.5 on the Richter Scale. Lake Arrowhead is about 31 miles west of Portland. Did you feel the earthquake? Or do you think people are overreacting? Tell us in the comments below!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
These people in Swampscott didn't feel today's earthquake but it jarred memories of other quakes.
Swampscott's Marnie McDonald found out about today's earthquake in an unlikely place. She was in her living room and learned about it on the Facebook site of the Real Housewives of New Jersey — someone posted the information there, she said, smiling to think of the unlikely news source. McDonald did not feel today's quake but she lived through a major one when she was 6 years old. She remembers it clearly. It was the early 1970s and she was in her bedroom when she heard noises that sounded like rocks being thrown against her room's sliding-glass window. She ran upstairs to be near her parents. "The stairs were swinging back and forth," she said. Mary Wolthausen, 81, who lives in Santa Barbara, California, is in Swampscott for her sister's …
42.46837
-70.90059
Pleasant St & Humphrey St, Swampscott, MA
/articles/earthquake-memories
/locations/5171205
42.469782
-70.920102
Town of Swampscott Fire Department
76 Burrill St, Swampscott, MA
/articles/earthquake-memories
771707
/locations/5171206
Editor's note: This article was originally posted in March after the earthquake in Japan.
With the devastation in Japan, Patch asks how likely an earthquake is to occur on the North Shore.
Editor's note: This article was originally posted in March after the earthquake in Japan. The likelihood an earthquake the magnitude of the one that hit Japan could strike the North Shore is low, but experts say it could happen. "Ironically, if there was someplace an earthquake could hit [in Massachusetts], it would be the North Shore," Peter Judge, spokesman for Massachusetts Emergency Management said. MEMA is the 24/7 reporting center for earthquakes across New England. The data is then given to the Weston Observatory at Boston College for analysis. "The North Shore is considered a 'moderate earthquake site,'" Judge said. Judge pointed to the Cape Ann earthquake of 1755, which registered a 6.0 in magnitude. "If that occurred today, …
42.46997
-70.920379
Town of Swampscott Police Department
86 Burrill St, Swampscott, MA
/articles/could-an-earthquake-hit-the-north-shore-2
771797
/locations/5171306
42.469782
-70.920102
Town of Swampscott Fire Department
76 Burrill St, Swampscott, MA
/articles/could-an-earthquake-hit-the-north-shore-2
771707
/locations/5171307
42.475481
-70.914483
Swampscott Public Works Department
200 Paradise Rd, Swampscott, MA
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1759173
/locations/5171308
42.47002
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Swampscott Town Hall
22 Monument Ave, Swampscott, MA
/articles/could-an-earthquake-hit-the-north-shore-2
771753
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Several people in Swampscott said they did not but one said her friend's daughter felt it in Boston.
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck in Virginia shortly before 2 this afternoon. People reportedly felt it up and down the East Coast though several people polled in Swampscott said they did not feel it. Mary Wolthausen said her friend's daughter felt it in Boston. Massachusetts State Police have fielded numerous call from the public in the wake of the earthquake but they have received no reports of injuries or significant structural damage, a spokesman said. Numerous employees in the State Police headquarters in Framingham felt the tremors, the spokesman said. Seabrook Station Spokesman Al Griffith said the earthquake did not influence the plant's operations. "Absolutely no impact at all to Seabrook Station operations," he said, "all of …
Monday, March 14, 2011
A roundup of the region's major developments for Monday, March 14.
Welcome to PatchCast. Every weekday at 6 p.m. we'll fill you in on the top stories from across the region. Today is Monday, March 14. Follow these links for more on today's featured stories:
Louis Massei
6:58 pm on Sunday, November 4, 2012
That was blasting David last week. The bigger question will be how many water and sewer pipes failures will show up once we get some freezing and thawing of the ground. Clay pipes will fail first..... more ›