Small Quake 9 Miles Off West Island a Routine Event
WEST ISLAND: Two small earthquakes where detected in Buzzards Bay Sunday night (5-15-2011) at 839PM.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) that monitors earthquake activity around the world recorded a minor 2.1 magnitude quake about 2.5 miles below the surface. a few hundred yards off Nashawena Island that's part of The Elizabeth Islands chain. A second smaller 1.3 magnitude quake moved the seismograph needle a few minutes later.
Most of these small quakes cannot be felt or heard but register on sensitive tremor instruments. There are in excess of 30 small quake events a year in the New England region., according to the USGS. In April of 2005 a 2.5 seismic event was recorded in the same general area that generated numerous reports of an explosion as far away as Nantucket.
Link to the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
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