Editor’s note: Tracy F. Seelye, Express editor, contributed to this story.
The New England Seismic Network Weston observatory confirmed that Plympton experienced a minor quake at 3:45 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Alan L. Kafka, of the Weston Observatory, told the Express this morning that a small earthquake measuring just 1.7 on the Richter scale struck the area about five miles east of Bridgewater, at 3:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21. These tremors are not at all uncommon, he said, and in fact quite a few have been felt throughout the region, in Brockton, Middleboro, and even Martha’s Vineyard. All coming down the fault line that goes through Cape Ann, north of Boston.
One Plympton resident thought he was awakened by a particularly strong thunder clap at almost 4 a.m. Tuesday, “but it was close to the ground, not really like thunder.” He didn’t realize just how close to the ground it was.
With all this activity, are we getting ready for “the big one”? You just never know. Earthquakes aren’t easy to predict, although these little tremors are to be expected.
Kafka, author of “Why does the Earth Quake in New England?” said Thursday, that earth tremors and earthquakes really do occur on a regular basis in New England.