Latest news with #WestonObservatory
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Did you feel it? 2nd earthquake this week detected off coast of New England
A second earthquake in just three days was detected off the coast of New England early Wednesday morning. The United States Geological Survey confirmed a 2.0-magnitude earthquake centered southeast of York Harbor, Maine, just north of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, around 3:15 a.m. The epicenter of Wednesday's earthquake is located in about the same area as the 3.8-magnitude quake on Monday that was felt across New England. Many Massachusetts residents reported strong rattling from Monday's earthquake, saying it 'sounded like a freight train.' There were no reports of any injuries or damage from the earthquakes. Dr. John Ebel, a senior research scientist at the Weston Observatory, told Boston 25 News that these types of earthquakes provide valuable data. 'It helps us figure out where the active faults may be and potentially where the big earthquakes may occur in the future,' Ebel explained. Ebel hopes New Englanders will use this week's natural occurrences as an opportunity to become aware, not concerned. 'We do live in a seismically active area. We have had damaging earthquakes historically in the past and every reason to believe we will have damaging earthquakes in the future,' Ebel said. The most storied earthquake in Massachusetts history occurred about 4:30 a.m. on November 18, 1755, and it had an epicenter about 30 miles east of Cape Ann, according to the Northeast States Emergency Consortium. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
CBS News
29-01-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Another earthquake detected off Maine, 2 days after Boston felt larger quake
YORK HARBOR, Maine - Another earthquake has been recorded off the coast of Maine, two days after a larger quake shook Boston, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The magnitude 2.0 earthquake was detected at 3:15 a.m. Wednesday about six miles southeast of York Harbor, Maine, according to the United States Geological Survey. The epicenter was almost the exact same location as the 3.8 magnitude earthquake that was felt in Boston and hundreds of miles away throughout New England on Monday. Like Monday, there were no reports of damage or injuries from the earthquake. Wednesday's earthquake was not widely felt. Only about 20 people filed "Did You Feel It" reports with the USGS on Wednesday, compared to more than 40,000 who shared their experience from the earthquake on Monday. Earthquake aftershocks An earthquake like the one earlier in the week happens once every four or five years, scientist John Ebel with the Weston Observatory at Boston College told WBZ-TV. Ebel said Monday that "there will certainly be aftershocks," but it's a question of whether they'll be strong enough to be felt in New England.
Boston Globe
28-01-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Could New England's 3.8 earthquake trigger aftershocks?
Earthquake felt off the coast of Maine Share On Appledore Island near the epicenter of Monday's earthquake, the Shoals Marine Laboratory cameras show the vibrations felt from the 3.8 quake. Experts say one or more aftershocks are not out of the realm of possibility. Advertisement John Ebel, a senior research scientist at Weston Observatory who studies seismic activity in New England, said that while Monday's event wasn't a large earthquake, there is a window for a few more jolts to surface. 'The larger the earthquake, the larger the window for aftershocks. For a magnitude 4.0, it's like two weeks; for a magnitude 7.0, it's a few years,' said Ebel, who has Aftershocks are a sequence of earthquakes that occur near the epicenter of a quake or proximity to where the main 'rupture' in a fault line occurred, and are part of the readjustment process after the fault initially gives way, according to the United States Geological Survey. Not only can aftershocks occur but the chances of one happening decreases over time from the initial rumble, according to experts. In its 'aftershock forecast,' the USGS noted that chances are rather slim, about a 9 percent shot, that this York Harbor tremor will produce a magnitude 3 or higher aftershock that would be felt. The USGS said: 'Typically, there are aftershocks with earthquakes, even in New England, but they'll likely stay at or slightly below the threshold for people to feel the shake, which is around 2.5 or 2.8 or less,' as measured on the Richter scale, which ranges from 1 to a magnitude of 10, a catastrophic quake. Advertisement Sophie Coulson, assistant professor in Earth Science at University of New Hampshire, said aftershocks are usually weaker than the initial event, so any aftershock resulting from this recent earthquake would be less than a 3.8 magnitude and rather indiscernible. 'Certainly, (aftershocks) could be happening over the next couple days, but these would likely be much smaller events that we wouldn't even necessarily feel,' Coulson said. Geology professor Tasha Dunn at Colby College said the Northeast experiences earthquakes 'on a fairly regular basis that are really, really teeny tiny. So, it might honestly be difficult to distinguish aftershocks of this earthquake from other earthquakes that are, you know, just going on on a regular basis.' During Monday's 3.8 quake, Coulson said her students saw projectors shaking and pictures on the walls moving slightly during Monday's event. In her lecture class of about 80 students, she said most felt the tremor. Ebel believes that because of our limited seismic activity across New England, we are better able to keep track of aftershocks compared with our neighbors out west. 'Here that activity is so low, we probably can observe aftershocks for many years after moderate-size earthquakes,' he said. Some experts believe the York Harbor quake most likely occurred in an area known as the Norumbega Fault Zone, a major 'strike-slip fault' area located in coastal Maine. Ebel, however, suspects the earthquake's epicenter happened in a region more offshore that has been seismically active since the 1970s. 'If you go to Cape Ann, and you go to the east maybe 20 or 30 miles, and from there you go north toward York, Maine, over the last five decades or so, there have been a number of earthquakes detected in that zone.' Advertisement While there is not enough evidence to convince all seismologists that it is an active fault, Ebel said, 'my opinion is, actually it probably is.' 'There are three or four faults in the Newburyport area that are 400 million years old,' said Ebel. While scientists have no evidence that those faults are active, there are still a lot of mysteries when it comes to ancient faults. 'Figuring out how the modern earthquake relates to the old faults is a conundrum that we are trying to work out.' Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Boston Globe
27-01-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Maine has recorded 500-plus earthquakes. But you wouldn't know it with most of them.
Advertisement 'The cold rock structure underlying the East Coast means that seismic waves are transmitted much more efficiently,' said Sonder. 'As a result, vibrations from even small earthquakes are felt over much larger areas than they would be in western states such as California.' Maine, like the other New England states, is no stranger to earthquakes. Quakes actually occur multiple times per month in our region. Minor earthquakes, generally a magnitude 2 or lower on the Richter scale, which measures the strength of earthquakes, are barely noticeable as we go about our day, according to experts. There have been hundreds of these low-end shakes on record. 'The Weston Observatory records about three to five minor earthquakes per month, but once you get to the magnitude of 3, we usually capture one per year,' said John Ebel, a senior research scientist at Weston Observatory at Boston College. '(Today's) event was closer to a 4.0 magnitude, which happens about one in five years,' which goes for any earthquake at a strength of 3 or higher on the Richter scale. Since 1900, there have been more than 500 earthquakes recorded across the state of Maine or within instrument range, according to the USGS. Most of them range from a 1 to 3 magnitude. The state of Maine sees decent seismic activity, but larger earthquakes that we can actually feel occur once every five years. USGS 'When you get to or above a 5.0 magnitude, which happens about every 100 years, that's where damage occurs,' added Ebel. 'In 1755, we had a 6.2 earthquake by Cape Ann, Mass. which did a lot of damage.' Advertisement The largest earthquake ever recorded in or off the coast of Maine was in 1907, where a 5.7-magnitude quake occurred in extreme Downeast Maine, within Passamaquoddy Bay. However, there has been a notable cluster of earthquakes whose epicenters have lied between Cape Ann off the North Shore, stretching to southern Maine, where the earthquake on Monday occurred. Experts suggest that the strike-slip fault across a several fault lines in the Gulf of Maine may indicate that they're becoming more fragile, with the developing concentration of epicenters focusing south of Portland and off the New Hampshire and Massachusetts coast. Ken Mahan can be reached at
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Earthquake rattles Maine and Boston. How common are quakes in the Northeast?
Residents throughout New England, including Boston, felt the ground shake beneath their feet Monday when an earthquake struck off the coast of Maine. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the 3.8 magnitude earthquake was located about 6 miles southeast of York Harbor, Maine, at 10:22 a.m. ET. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake could be felt in at least six states — Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont — according to a map published by the USGS. Small earthquakes are not uncommon in the Northeast, John Ebel, a senior scientist at the Weston Observatory at Boston College, told Yahoo News. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Earthquakes measuring magnitude 2.0 or less are recorded several times a month — and most are not widely felt, Ebel said. But earthquakes at magnitudes near 4.0 — like Monday's quake in New England— are far less common in the region. 'This is a once-in-every-five-years kind of earthquake,' Ebel said. Or twice. In April 2024, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered in New Jersey was felt up and down the East Coast. Earlier this month, the USGS published a new map showing where damaging earthquakes are most likely to occur in the United States. The National Seismic Hazard Model found that nearly 75% of the United States could experience potentially damaging earthquakes, including places not highlighted before. 'Noteworthy changes in the new model show the possibility of more damaging earthquakes along the central and northeastern Atlantic Coastal corridor, including in the cities of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston,' according to the USGS. Ebel said such models are not meant for fearmongering but are used to update building codes to withstand stronger earthquakes. According to the USGS, the most recent New England earthquake causing moderate damage occurred in 1940 (magnitude 5.6) in central New Hampshire.
