Earthquakes

Earthquake shakes Boston area. Did you feel it?

While not destructive, and fairly common in areas with more seismic activity like California, that's relatively large for New England

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People in Boston and across New England felt the rare earthquake that struck just off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire Monday morning, which a local scientist described as a once-every-five-year event. 

To one local, it sounded like a jumbo jet flying under the ground — we found video of a bartender feel the shaking as he poured a glass of Guinness.

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The Boston area shook from a rare, but minor, earthquake Monday morning.

The U.S. Geological Survey rated the shaking as a magnitude 3.8, downgraded from the initial magnitude of 4.1. It was centered off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine in York Harbor, about 12 miles underground.

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While not destructive, and fairly common in areas with more seismic activity like California, that's relatively large for the area.

Shaking was felt across the region — as far away as New Haven, Connecticut, and Albany, New York, according to responses sent to U.S. Geological Survey.

If you felt the quake, you can report it to the USGS here.

In southern Maine, many residents reported feeling houses and buildings shake as the surprising earthquake interrupted a sunny winter morning.

The quake sent residents and officials in Maine and New Hampshire looking to assess any possible damage.

In most cases, residents and businesses reported confusion over what had happened. Many shared stories on social media indicating they initially thought there may have been a nearby car accident or possibly an explosion.

Earthquake felt across New England on Monday
A 3.8-magnitude earthquake rattled New England on Monday morning and was felt from Connecticut all the way north to New Hampshire. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston https://bsky.app/profile/nbcboston.com

The Maine Emergency Management Agency asked residents to only call 911 in the event of an emergency. The earthquake did not appear to cause major damage, said Vanessa Corson, a spokesperson for the agency. Corson also said local emergency management agencies did not report any damage.

“We have not received word of any issues. We’ve spoken with the directors at York and Cumberland County EMA, and everything seems to be in order,” Corson said.

New Hampshire’s Department of Safety said the state's 911 number did not receive any calls about damage or injuries.

Massport said there were no issues or pauses in operations at Boston Logan International Airport as a result of the earthquake.

Justine Wenger, a freelance copywriter working from her Scarborough, Maine, home, said she was texting with a friend when she felt the earthquake. The vibrations lasted about 30 seconds and shook her house. At first, she thought it was a passing truck, then feared her furnace might blow up so she went out onto her deck.

“I wasn’t terrified, but this felt different than a normal rumbling,” she said. “It felt substantial. There was an instinct to get out of the house.”

Earthquakes in the center and eastern parts of the U.S. are less frequent than in western states, but they are typically felt over a much broader region, the survey said on its website. It’s common for there to be two small earthquakes a year in New England, the survey said. Last year, the Boston area felt shaking from a 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered in New Jersey.

“People in New England, and in its geological extension southward through Long Island, have felt small earthquakes and suffered damage from infrequent larger ones since colonial times,” according to the USGS website.

An earthquake of close to 4.0 or slightly higher in magnitude in the Northeast states “is not particularly common, but it’s not all that rare, either,” said Maureen Long, the chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University. Long cited the April earthquake in New Jersey as an example.

An 2002 earthquake in upstate New York measured at a magnitude of 5.1. There was also a magnitude 4.7 event near Hollis Center, Maine, in 2012, Long said.

Residents of cities including Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, also reported feeling the quake.

In Kennebunk, Maine, school superintendent Terri Cooper assured parents via e-mail that staff was looking through schools for any damage and everything seemed fine.

“Our operations department has checked all district buildings and systems to ensure they are in working order and no damage has been discovered,” Cooper’s e-mail said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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