Small Earthquake Rattles Wareham Early Wednesday Morning

August 22, 2019 5:44 pm

By: Tim Studebaker

WAREHAM, MASS. (WLNE) – For the people of Wareham, it was a jolting wake up call in the middle of the night. A small earthquake struck at 1:31am Wednesday.

Wareham resident Christine DeCourcy says, “All of a sudden I heard a large boom. It sounded like thunder, but louder, and then the house shook. Then five seconds later, there was another loud boom, but the house didn’t shake as much.”

Many took to social media to post about their earthquake experience, saying it woke them up from a sound sleep, rattled their windows, or they thought it sounded like a car crash or an explosion.

DeCourcy says, “I kind of figured it was an earthquake, because the house shook, and it wasn’t like thunder where the house vibrated.”

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, that magnitude 1.7 earthquake was centered 3.85 miles below the surface of the earth, directly below a Wareham neighborhood, across the water from Onset Beach and Wickets Island.

On their Facebook page, the Wareham Department of Natural Resources said no damage was reported as of Thursday’s update.

DeCourcy says, “We actually did walk around the foundation to look, and he actually went up in the attic because I said the house shook. It actually shook.”

The quake was recorded at Boston College’s Weston Observatory, showing up on their seismograph. According to the observatory’s New England Seismic Network, small earthquakes like this happen fairly frequently in and around New England.

Significant earthquakes are much more rare. A map on the observatory’s website shows a total of 12 earthquakes over magnitude 5 since the 1600’s, but they do happen. Each of them serves as a reminder to be prepared for anything. Fortunately, this one was just a very small reminder.

DeCourcy says, “It was really fun to live through.”