Mary Eichenlaub of Amesbury was making breakfast and watching television early Monday morning when she heard it - a loud bang.
The noise lasted for only a few seconds, and with a rainstorm outside, Eichenlaub said her first thought was that lightning had struck a tree, causing it to fall. Nothing inside her house moved or even rattled, she said.
The loud bang upset her dogs as Eichenlaub raced around, looking for the tree she thought had fallen on her house.
Turns out that what she felt was a small earthquake centered just southeast of Merrimac's center - about 9 miles from Amesbury and even closer to Haverhill at about four miles away, according to officials at Boston College's Weston Observatory in Weston.
Dana Smith, a seismologist and associate director at the earthquake observatory, said the tremor measured 1.3 magnitude on the Nuttli scale, which rates earthquakes from 1 to 10 and is similar to the more commonly known Richter scale. The quake struck at 7:15 Monday morning, she said.
"Normally 1.3 is too small for anyone to feel," she said. "But one person in Amesbury called us to say they felt it, and Amesbury police reported several phone calls from people who felt something."
Haverhill police said they received no reports of the quake. Merrimac police said they received two calls from people reporting a "loud boom."
The earthquake was the first in the area since April 26, 2006, when another minor tremor - .9 on the Nuttli scale - hit Amesbury, Smith said.
"We get something this size in the Merrimac/Amesbury area about once a year, on average," said Smith, noting that an earthquake fault line runs through the two towns.
Don Swenson, Amesbury's emergency management director, said he didn't hear or feel the earthquake but was notified by the Amesbury Police Department that it had received several calls from concerned residents wanting to know what had happened.
Swenson called the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, who updated him after speaking with officials at the Weston Observatory.
"It was just minor," Swenson said, adding he wasn't aware of any property damage in Amesbury caused by the quake.
In 1999, there was another - slightly larger - earthquake in Merrimac that got more notice in Amesbury. It was recorded at 2.2 on the Richter scale and had some aftershocks, Swenson said. That quake also didn't do any damage.
The noise lasted for only a few seconds, and with a rainstorm outside, Eichenlaub said her first thought was that lightning had struck a tree, causing it to fall. Nothing inside her house moved or even rattled, she said.
The loud bang upset her dogs as Eichenlaub raced around, looking for the tree she thought had fallen on her house.
Turns out that what she felt was a small earthquake centered just southeast of Merrimac's center - about 9 miles from Amesbury and even closer to Haverhill at about four miles away, according to officials at Boston College's Weston Observatory in Weston.
Dana Smith, a seismologist and associate director at the earthquake observatory, said the tremor measured 1.3 magnitude on the Nuttli scale, which rates earthquakes from 1 to 10 and is similar to the more commonly known Richter scale. The quake struck at 7:15 Monday morning, she said.
"Normally 1.3 is too small for anyone to feel," she said. "But one person in Amesbury called us to say they felt it, and Amesbury police reported several phone calls from people who felt something."
Haverhill police said they received no reports of the quake. Merrimac police said they received two calls from people reporting a "loud boom."
The earthquake was the first in the area since April 26, 2006, when another minor tremor - .9 on the Nuttli scale - hit Amesbury, Smith said.
"We get something this size in the Merrimac/Amesbury area about once a year, on average," said Smith, noting that an earthquake fault line runs through the two towns.
Don Swenson, Amesbury's emergency management director, said he didn't hear or feel the earthquake but was notified by the Amesbury Police Department that it had received several calls from concerned residents wanting to know what had happened.
Swenson called the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, who updated him after speaking with officials at the Weston Observatory.
"It was just minor," Swenson said, adding he wasn't aware of any property damage in Amesbury caused by the quake.
In 1999, there was another - slightly larger - earthquake in Merrimac that got more notice in Amesbury. It was recorded at 2.2 on the Richter scale and had some aftershocks, Swenson said. That quake also didn't do any damage.
Last year, there were 15 earthquakes in New England, according to Weston Observatory's Web site.
BOX
Local shakes
Monday: Merrimac, 1.8 on Richter scale
April 26, 2006: Amesbury, 1.4 on Richter scale
1999: Merrimac, 2.2 on the Richter scale
There were 15 earthquakes in New England last year
Source: Weston Observatory of Boston College
