Historic Earthquakes
Northern Cape Ann region, east of Newbury, Massachusetts
1727 11 10 03:40 UTC
Intensity VII
At Newbury, many stone walls and chimney bricks were shaken down, and almost all tops of chimneys were knocked off. Considerable changes occurred in the flow of water in springs and, in some springs, changes occurred in the character of the water. "Some firm land became quagmire, and marshes were dried up." The rise and fall of the ground made it difficult to walk, and houses shook and rocked as if they would fall apart. Sand blows were reported near Spring Island. Felt from the Kennebec River in Maine to the Delaware River on the New York-Pennsylvania border and from ships at sea to the "extreme western settlements." Aftershocks occurred in the area for several months. The strongest aftershock (MM intensity V) occurred in the Newbury area on Dec. 28, 1727, and Jan. 4 and Feb. 10, 1728 (local dates).
Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.
