1755 Cape Ann earthquake

1755 Cape Ann earthquake
1755 Cape Ann earthquake is located in Massachusetts
1755 Cape Ann earthquake
Cape Ann
Cape Ann
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date18 November 1755 (1755-11-18)
Local time04:30
Magnitude5.9 Mw[1]
Epicenter42°42′N 70°12′W / 42.7°N 70.2°W / 42.7; -70.2
Areas affectedBritish America, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Max. intensityVIII (Severe)

The 1755 Cape Ann earthquake happened off the coast of British Province of Massachusetts Bay (present-day Massachusetts) on 18 November 1755. The maximum Mercalli intensity was VIII (Severe). At between 6.0 and 6.3 on the Richter scale, it was one of the biggest earthquakes in the history of Massachusetts. No one was killed, but damaged hundreds of buildings in Boston. People felt the shaking as far north as Nova Scotia and as far south as South Carolina.[2] Even sailors on a ship over 200 miles away thought their ship was running aground at first.

Some folks in Boston believed the earthquake was a sign from God, and it made people more religious for a short time. Nowadays, if a similar earthquake hit Boston, it could cause up to $5 billion in damage and lots of deaths.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Ebel, J.E. (2006). "The Cape Ann, Massachusetts earthquake of 1755: a 250th anniversary perspective". Seismological Research Letters. 77 (1). Seismological Society of America: 74.
  2. ↑ Ballard C. Campbell, ed. American Disasters: 201 Calamities That Shook the Nation (2008) pp 28–30
  3. ↑ Newman, William A.; Holton, Wilfred E. (2006). Boston's Back Bay: The Story of America's Greatest Nineteenth-century Landfill Project. University Press of New England. pp. 177–180. ISBN 978-1-55553-651-0.