1940 New Hampshire earthquakes

May 2025 February 2025 Natural disasters in U.S. state 1940 New Hampshire earthquakes New Hampshire y 20 December 1940 24 December 1940 doublet 1940-12-20 07:27:26 1940-12-24 13:43:44 02:27:26Dateful Time Zone Converter https://dateful.com/convert/utc?t=0727&d=1940-12-20&tz2=New-Hampshire-United-States dateful.com 08:43:44Dateful Time Zone Converter https://dateful.com/convert/utc?t=1343&d=1940-12-24&tz2=New-Hampshire-United-States dateful.com n/a 901740 901745 5.5 n y 45.6 gr PAS y,OB 901740 45.25 w (est.)Stover Coffman 1993 308. 5.5 n y 45.6 gr PAS yOB 901745 45.50 w (est.)Stover Coffman 1993 308. VII 35 km onOB 901740 43.83 N 71.28 W Unknown New England United States thumb|Isoseismal map for the 1940 New Hampshire earthquakes|250px The 1940 New Hampshire earthquakes struck on December 20 and again on December 24. Both shocks had an estimated s y 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.Stover Coffman 1993, p. 308. 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.https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/new_hampshire/history.php New Hampshire – Earthquake History United States Geological Survey October 21, 2009 December 24, 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20091215070018/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/new_hampshire/history.php December 15, 2009 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.https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1940_12_20.php Historic Earthquakes United States Geological Survey October 21, 2009 December 20, 2009 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.Hall, Anthony, Igneous Petrology, Longman, 1987 p.75–76 0-582-30174-2 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,Stover Coffman 1993 308. The surface magnitudes are from Gutenberg Richter 1954. 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 cm 0. The earthquake additionally shifted objects as heavy as stoves. Aftershocks of the earthquake occurred over the next several months. See also List of earthquakes in 1940 List of earthquakes in the United States Notes 24em Stover Coffman 1993. Sources M. P. Billings 1942 Geology of the Central Area of the Ossipee Mountains, New Hampshire, earthquakes Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Seismological Society of America 32 2 83–92 10.1785/BSSA0320020083 1942BuSSA..32...83B http://www.bssaonline.org/content/32/2/83.extract https://web.archive.org/web/20161214214937/http://www.bssaonline.org/content/32/2/83.extract dead December 14, 2016 subscription . J. J. Devlin L. C. Langguth R. L. Arringdale 1942 Macroseismic study of the New Hampshire earthquakes of December 1940 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Seismological Society of America 32 2 67–73 10.1785/BSSA0320020067 1942BuSSA..32...67D http://www.bssaonline.org/content/32/2/67.extract https://archive.today/20141130090102/http://www.bssaonline.org/content/32/2/67.extract dead November 30, 2014 subscription . Don Leet L. Linehan D. 1942 Instrumental study of the New Hampshire earthquakes of December, 1940 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Seismological Society of America 32 2 75–82 10.1785/BSSA0320020075 1942BuSSA..32...75L http://www.bssaonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/32/2/75 https://web.archive.org/web/20080908054256/http://www.bssaonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/32/2/75 dead September 8, 2008 subscription . OB cs2 Stover C. W. Coffman J. L. 1993 Seismicity of the United States, 1568–1989 (Revised) U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527 https://books.google.com/books?id=bY0KAQAAIAAJ United States Government Printing Office. Gutenberg B. Richter C. F. 1954 Seismicity of the Earth and Associated Phenomena 2nd Princeton University Press, 310p. External links Quakes in east bigger puzzle than those on west coast – The New York Times New Hampshire Earthquake, 1940 Category:December 1940 in the United States New Hampshire Earthquake, 1940 Category:Earthquakes in the United States Category:Natural disasters in New Hampshire New Hampshire earthquake