Earthquake Rumbles Through Northeast
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Update at 3:45 p.m.
The earthquake has been downgraded to a 5.0 on the Richter scale.
It's intensity was reported as weak to light in the regions of North Berkshire, Southern Vermont and eastern New York based on reports to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Boston Globe reported tremors felt across the state from Boston to Springfield (because, apparently, nothing exists west of Springfield).
However, the USGS shows reports from North Adams, Pittsfield, Williamstown, Dalton and Stockbridge. At last count, we had more than 15 responses on our Facebook page with reports of feeling no tremors to rattling bottles at Billmont's Country Store in Stamford and vibrations in the decking on the North Adams High-Rise Apartments.
Williamstown's Treasurer & Collector Janet Saddler said her chair started rocking back and forth. "Then my desk was rocking back and forth. I turned around, and the vault was shaking."
Saddler said everyone on the second floor of the Municipal Building felt the shaking. "It was scary."
She'd been through an earthquake before years ago when living in North Bennington, Vt. "That was a 4.0. It damaged our chimney and there was a boom. It came with sound effects."
This time was much milder but the vault, she notes, is very, very heavy. "It's fireproof, bombproof." And now, we know, earthquake proof.
If you felt quake, you can let the USGS know what it was like here.
The last significant earthquake in the region was in Plattsburgh, N.Y., in 2002; the biggest was in 1755. More history here.
Original posting at 2:09 p.m., June 23, 2010
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A 5.5-magnitude earthquake centered near Ottawa sent shivers through parts of New England about a half-hour ago.
Twitter reports show the quake was felt as far away as New Jersey and Cleveland. WTEN said it's been getting calls from across the 518 and 413 areas.
We felt shivers in our office chair at home in Stamford, Vt., as if it was trying to rock on its own. Nancy Fitzpatrick tweeted us that Stockbridge felt tremors at 1:45.
Williamstown Town Manager Peter Fohlin e-mailed us that "Municipal Building employees felt their chairs rocking for 10 seconds or more around 1:50 this afternoon."
Anybody else feel it? Any known damage? Let us know on our Facebook page or @iberkshires on Twitter.
