Amateurs throughout southern New England were startled by a sudden earthquake that struck the southeastern portion of Massachusetts on Sunday, November 8. The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude 3.6 earthquake occurred in the vicinity of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The quake began at 14:10:06 UTC (9:10:06 AM EST). Its epicenter was located 11 kilometers south of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts (41.507°N 70.938°W) at a depth of 10 kilometers.
Eastern MA Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY said, “It was right near my house. I felt shaking to my house that was violent and something I have never experienced before. Unknown on damage reports.”
“It was more like a loud, deep noise. I’ve heard it before when we’ve had other earthquakes,” wrote Sudbury amateur Marc Stern, WA1R.
The Netquakes seismograph at the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association recorded the earthquake at the club shack at 6 Stanwood Street in Gloucester. According to CAARA’s Stan Stone, W4HIX, “CAARA is the only [site] still running a NetQuakes seismometer in New England—they had problems with the AC power supplies and suggested everyone turn their system off until a replacement could be found. Obviously that never happened. We decided to take the risk and it has been running at CAARA for many years now.”