The New England Earthquake of 1638
Colonists Report Significant Damage From This 6.5 Magnitude Event
When the great migration from England to New England occurred in the 1630s, the colonists did not know they were relocating to an earthquake prone region. They soon learned that Boston sat atop a complicated fault system that was very actiive, mostly with minor earthquakes but occasionally with stronger ones.
Earthquake Size and Epicenter
On June 1, 1638 (June 11 by the Gregorian calendar) New England experienced the first earthquake of the Colonial Era. Some reports suggest an earthquake occurred in 1627, but too few colonists were in the area to verify that. The evidence suggests that the quake would have registered 6.5 to 7.0 on the Richter scale. This would make it roughly equivalent to the San Francisco and Los Angeles quakes in 1989 and 1994.
The quake was felt in Boston and towns north of there, Plymouth, Connecticut, New York, and Canada. This has caused earthquake experts to place the epicenter in what is now central New Hampshire. This area was not populated by European colonists, so no contemporary reports exist close to the epicenter.
Contemporary Reports of Earthquake Damage
The town of Newbury, thirty miles north of Boston, was in the midst of a meeting of all the freemen of the town, conducting regular town business, when the quake hit. The Newbury town records have this entry: “Being this day assembled to treat or consult about the well ordering of the affairs of the towne, about one of the clocke in the afternoone, the sunn shining faire, it pleased God suddenly to raise a vehement earthquake coming with a shrill clap of thunder, issuing as is supposed out of the east, which shook the earth and foundations of the house in a very violent manner to our great amazement and wonder, wherefore taking notice of so great and strange a hand of God’s providence, we were desirous of leaving it on record to the view of after ages to the intent that all might take notice of Almighty God and feare his name.”
Governor John Winthrop made this entry in his diary: “It came with a noise like continued thunder, or the rattling of coaches in London. The noise and shakings continued for about four minutes.” Anne Hutchinson wrote, “The course of it was from west to east. It shook the ships, threw down the tops of chimnies, and rattled the pewter from the shelves.”
In the Plymouth colony, a number of people were gathered together to discuss an upcoming relocation they were about to make. Governor William Bradford wrote the quake “came with a rumbling noise, or low murmur like unto remote thunder. As the noise approached nearer, the earth began to shake and came at length with that violence as caused platters and dishes, and such like things as stood upon shelves, to clatter and fall down; yea, persons were afraid of the houses themselves.”
Perley’s Summary of the Historical Accounts
Sidney Perley in his Historic Storms of New England, 1891, puts the time as between 1:00 and 2:00 PM. The thunder-like sound did not come at once, but grew. As the day was clear, the colonists were perplexed. Eventually “…the earth began to tremble beneath their feet, and terrified they threw down their tools and ran reeling like drunken men, with ghastly countenances, to the first group of people they could find, for men like many animals will flock together when they are afraid. The shaking of the earth increased to such a violent extent that people could not stand erect without supporting themselves by taking hold of posts or palings and other fixtures. Not only the mainland, but the islands in the ocean were shaken violently, and the vessels that rode in the harbors and those sailing along the coast were acted upon as if a series of tidal waves had passed under them."
Perly says the main shock lasted for four minutes. Secondary shocks began twenty minutes later. None equaled the first. He reports that minor after-shocks continued for twenty days, and reports that the colonists speculated that poor harvests that fall and for the next several years might have be a consequence of the quake.
Modern Interpretations of Historical Earthquakes
Modern earthquake scientists believe the contemporary descriptions of the earthquake are exaggerated. This was the first earthquake most of these colonists would have experienced, and the momentary terror may have caused them to claim things to have been much worse than they really were. Still, reports from colonies in Canada, who felt the quake to about the same degree, causes scientists to agree that this was indeed a powerful earthquake.
Other earthquakes are reported in histories to have occurred in 1643, 1653, 1663, but are described as minor events. Later New England earthquakes, such as the one in 1727 (with aftershocks continuing for several years) caused more damage and are better attested in the contemporary records.
The colonists learned that their chosen part of the New World had unexpected attributes. Eventually, earthquakes became a normal part of colonial life, at a time when New England was more seismologically active than today.
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