Echoes from the earthquake which rippled along the mainland coast from Hyannis to New Bedford on Sunday evening, were heard on the Vinevard in the vicinity of Menemsha Creek, and it is possible that other demonstrations were noted but not associated with the quake itself.
The family of Donald Poole reported a rumble, resembling the labored exhaust of a heavy car and continuing for about fifteen seconds. Cap’n and Mrs. Everett Poole also heard the same sound, though it appeared deeper. All who heard it said that it appeared to come from a northerly direction.
No sound or tremor was noticed at the Gay Head Coast Guard station, but reports of rumbling in various parts of the Island were reported to the police and others, indicating that some manifestation was noticeable in all towns, although very slight and unaccompanied by tremors. At least one radio behaved peculiarly between 6 and 6:30, which was the time of the quake, and later, one or two reports of unexplained sounds were heard.
Scientists at the seimographic station of Harvard and Weston colleges reported the temblor was of “moderate intensity” lasting about thirty-five seconds. Dr. L. Don Leet, director of the station at Harvard, said the shock was of the same type as the last one which affected the Cape Cod area April 23, 1935.
The shock was recorded on Dr. Leet’s sesimograph at 6:12:10 and the instrument showed the quake occurred seventy miles from the observatory.
Mild Quakes After Recorded
“We keep getting these, not only on the Cape, but throughout the New England area.” Dr. Leet said. “It is only in the course of a century or two that we get a sizable shock.”
“These shocks are hard to explain,” said the Rev. Thomas J. Smith, S. J., Weston college seismologist. “They are really mysterious, but I don’t think there is cause to worry about this shock being repeated.”
Declaring the quake was not severe, but “definitely one that could be felt.” Father Smith estimated the center of the disturbance was somewhere in the “depths” of Buzzards Bay.
It is recalled that following a winter much the same as this has been, between the years of 1924 and 1925, the lower end of the Vinevard was heavily rocked by an earthquake which left many cracked ceilings damaged chimneys and a number of people who believed themselves at first to be afflicted with dizziness and failing eyesight, due to the swaying of light fixtures, pictures and other hanging objects, together with the peculiar and unusual motion imparted by the quake.
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