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Earthquakes are uncommon in New England, but several have occurred in
history. A "big one" is very unlikely, but still possible. Until
the late 1700s, Puritan society felt that natural disasters were caused by
the wrath of God; that society was being punished for some reason.
The following are significant earthquakes in regional history:
"On June 1, 1638, between the hours of 3 and 4 P.M., the weather clear and
warm, and the wind westerly, all New England was violently shaken by an
internal convulsion of the earth. It came on with a noise like continued
thunder, and the shock lasted about four minutes. The earth shook with such
violence that in some places the people could not stand upright without
difficulty, and many movable articles in the houses were thrown down. The
earth was unquiet for twenty days afterwards.
On January 26, 1663, a heavy shock of earthquake was felt in New England and
in New York, and was particularly severe in Canada, where it was recorded
that 'the doors opened and shut of themselves with a fearful clattering. The
bells rang without being touched. The walls were split asunder. The floors
separated and fell down. The fields put on the appearance of precipices, and
the mountains seemed to be moving out of their places.' Small rivers were
dried up; some mountains appeared to be much broken and moved, and half-way
between Quebec and Tadousac two mountains were shaken down, and formed a
point of land extending some distance into the St. Lawrence.
On October 29, 1727, there was a severe earthquake in New England, lasting
about two minutes. Its course seemed to be from the Delaware River, in the
southwest, to the Kennebec, in the northeast, a distance of about 700 miles.
It occurred at about twenty minutes before eleven o'clock in the morning,
and the sky was serene. Pewter and china were cast from their shelves, and
stone walls and chimney-tops were shaken down. In some places doors were
burst open, and people could hardly keep their feet.
...
On November 18, 1755, an earthquake shock was felt from Chesapeake Bay along
the coast [to] Halifax, Nova Scotia, about 800 miles; and in the interior it
seems to have extended, from northwest to southeast, more than 1,000 miles.
In Boston 100 chimneys were leveled with the roofs of the houses, and 1,500
shattered [windows]. The vane on the
public market was thrown to the
earth. At New Haven, Connecticut, the ground moved like waves of the sea; the
houses shook and cracked, and many chimneys were thrown down. It occurred at
four o'clock in the morning, and lasted four and a half minutes. At the same
time there was a great tidal wave in the West Indies.
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