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