4.0 Earthquake In Massachusetts: Shaking Felt Across New England

DARTMOUTH, MA — A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck Massachusetts early Sunday morning near Buzzard's Bay, sending tremors across New England, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake happened at around 9 a.m. south of New Bedford in the Bliss Corner area. By 10 a.m., 13,000 residents across the region had reported feeling mild shaking as far west as Hartford and Springfield, and north into New Hampshire near Nashua, according to the USGS.

The exact location of the quake was centered under the ocean between Mishaum Point and Potomska Point near Slocums Ledge. The earthquake was about 15 kilometers underground and 9 kilometers from the shoreline, according to the USGS.

Although not a seismic hot spot like California, New England does have the potential for strong earthquakes.

In January 2015, a magnitude 3.3 quake hit near Plainfield, Conn., and set of a swarm of smaller quakes that were felt around the region.

On Nov. 18, 1755, an estimated magnitude 6.3 hit near Rockport. Shaking from the Cape Ann earthquake was so strong it could be felt as far away as South Carolina and upstate New York, according to seismologists.

There have been dozens of earthquakes in Massachusetts since the mid-1970s, according to Boston College's Weston Observatory. Some were even as strong as magnitude 3 or 4. There are also seismically active areas nearby. In 2011, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake centered in Virginia shook almost the entire East Coast.

Concord, N.H., meanwhile, is the "most seismically active locality in all of New England," according to the Northeast States Emergency Consortium. A magnitude 6.5 in 1638 felt by the Pilgrims was located near New Hampshire's capital. Two more quakes in December 1940 in New Hampshire had a magnitude of 5.6 each.