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1940 New Hampshire earthquakes

Field	Value
title	1940 New Hampshire earthquakes
map2	{{Location map	New Hampshire
lat	43.83
long	-71.28
mark	Bullseye1.png
marksize	50
position	top
width	250
float	right
tags	y
local-date-A
local-date-B
timestamp	doublet
timestamp-A	1940-12-20 07:27:26
timestamp-B	1940-12-24 13:43:44
local-time-A	02:27:26
local-time-B	08:43:44
anss-url	n/a
isc-event-A	901740
isc-event-B	901745
magnitude-A	5.5 5.25 (est.)
magnitude-B	5.5 5.50 (est.)
intensity
depth	35 km
location
type	Unknown
countries affected	New England
United States

[[Isoseismal map]] for the 1940 New Hampshire earthquakes

The 1940 New Hampshire earthquakes struck on December 20 and again on December 24. Both shocks had an estimated magnitude of 5.6, and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). These doublet earthquakes were the largest to hit the state in several hundred years. Damage included minor fractures or knocked over chimneys in a zone extending through New Hampshire and four other states: Maine, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.

History

While not known for earthquakes, New Hampshire has been dotted with both major and minor events. Two examples of strong earthquakes occurred in the 17th century. One was the 1638 earthquake; the other significant event to strike the state was the 1663 Charlevoix earthquake, originating in the Saint Lawrence River fault zone. The extent of the earthquake is not firm, at least in the state, as the population was composed largely of colonial settlers who had left the east coast. The 1663 earthquake felled chimneys, oscillated houses, and threw pewter from shelves in the Massachusetts Bay area.

Geography

Reports of the 1940 earthquake extended as far north as Montreal and Quebec in Canada, and included Maine, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, northeastern Delaware, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. The epicenter was next to the Ossipee Mountains, near the town of Ossipee, New Hampshire. These mountains are the remains of an ancient volcanic ring dike. A similar ring dike can be seen in southern New Hampshire at Pawtuckaway State Park.

Damage

Both earthquakes had surface magnitudes estimated at 5.5 and a Mercalli intensity of VII, and spawned waves of minor damage. There were reports of fractured pipes, walls, and furniture, as well as "fallen plaster" near the epicenter. The number of chimneys damaged totaled 20, in addition to fallen ones. The earthquake caused damage to wells, turning the water brown and displayed strength by movement, causing five monuments to shift from their original position at a cemetery, and moving one old house in the village of Wonalancet roughly 12 in. The earthquake additionally shifted objects as heavy as stoves. Aftershocks of the earthquake occurred over the next several months.

Notes

Sources

{{Citation |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161214214937/http://www.bssaonline.org/content/32/2/83.extract |url-status= dead |archive-date= December 14, 2016 |url-access= subscription
{{Citation |archive-url= https://archive.today/20141130090102/http://www.bssaonline.org/content/32/2/67.extract |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 30, 2014 |url-access= subscription
{{Citation |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080908054256/http://www.bssaonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/32/2/75 |url-status= dead |archive-date= September 8, 2008 |url-access= subscription
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References

"Dateful Time Zone Converter".
"Dateful Time Zone Converter".
{{nbsp. 45.6 {{M. gr. OB. 901740">{{Short-isc. OB. 901740
{{Harvnb. Stover. Coffman. 1993
{{Short-isc. OB. 901740
{{Harvnb. Stover. Coffman. 1993, p. 308.
(October 21, 2009). "New Hampshire – Earthquake History". United States Geological Survey.
(October 21, 2009). "Historic Earthquakes". United States Geological Survey.
Hall, Anthony, ''Igneous Petrology'', Longman, 1987 p.75–76 {{ISBN. 0-582-30174-2
{{Harvnb. Stover. Coffman. 1993. Gutenberg. Richter. 1954.
{{Harvnb. Stover. Coffman. 1993.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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