Earthquakes in the Northeastern
United States
Although the Northeastern United States is located
deep in the interior of the North American plate, earthquakes do
occur here on a regular basis. This figure shows earthquakes from
the Weston Observatory archives of earthquakes that occurred here
between 1975 and 2002. Weston Observatory , a geophysical research
laboratory of the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Boston
College, has been monitoring earthquakes in New England and around
the world since the 1930's.
Notable examples of earthquakes that caused damage
in the Northeastern United States are: an earthquake off the coast
of Cape Ann, MA in 1755; two earthquakes near Ossipee, NH in 1940;
and an earthquake near New York City in 1884. In spite of this regular
occurrence of earthquakes in the northeastern United States, most
people living here probably think of places like California or Japan
when they hear the word "earthquake." While Californians
have learned to expect earthquakes, residents of the Northeastern
United States consider the ground beneath their feet to be "solid
as a rock." Nonetheless, the record of earthquake activity
in the United States shows that, while the highest level of activity
is, of course, in the western part of the country, earthquake activity
is quite common in many areas of the eastern United States.
Contributed by Alan Kafka |
