Comments on: Atlantic Earthquakes

By: James Conder

James Conder — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:47:23 +0000

Donna, how certain is the 1755 publication date? I googled around and I see “published 1755″ noted in a few places, but I can’t help wondering if it wasn’t published in 1756-77 time frame and the listed publication date was lifted from the title (I could see myself making that mistake).

It isn’t impossible for him to be referring to Lisbon in 1755, but it would need to be late December, as the faster Atlantic crossings would still have taken at least six weeks or so.

If you haven’t seen it already, you might like:
http://www.historylecture.org/eqne.html#

By: thesalemgarden

thesalemgarden — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:01:05 +0000

We were eating dinner and my daughter and I felt it very clearly. My husband who was sitting right between didn’t feel a thing. I’m still trying to understand that

By: daseger

daseger — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:08:10 +0000

Oh Celie, I’m sure this one would hardly be noticed by hardy New Zealanders and Californians, but it was my first. New England is apparently vulnerable to earthquakes, which is worrisome as Boston is built on so much landfill.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:03:19 +0000

Earthquakes in this case were probably the big tremor and aftershocks. The Lisbon connection is highly unlikely.

By: daseger

daseger — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:57:31 +0000

What earthquake? was their reply!

By: Matthew Carnicelli

Matthew Carnicelli — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:41:35 +0000

I’m glad Dad and Pam are safe!

By: cecilia

cecilia — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:43:57 +0000

I come from New Zealand where there are earthquakes often. My Dad lives in Christchurch. So the little ones don’t worry me particularly. They say the first shake is always the worst. Interesting that you worried about your chimney though, and there were so many chimneys dropped in Boston so long ago, more interesting is that the others did not feel it at all, maybe you really were in a parallel universe or at the very least a shaky building! I love the sounds you get from an earthquake. Earthquakes do come in clusters though. c

By: daseger

daseger — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:32:14 +0000

I am wondering about the timing too, Matt, but Newland is definitely talking about Earthquakes–plural. I think a couple of months is too long, but there definitely would have been a considerable time lag between event and “news”: not sure of the precise date of Newland’s sermon, but it does have a 1755 publication date.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:22:22 +0000

Not sure I understand why the Lisbon earthquake would have played on the local pysche. In the mid 18th century, I believe it would have taken at least a couple of months for a ship to travel from Europe to America, so it seems unlikely they would have been made aware of the Lisbon tragedy until well after the Cape Ann quake. Am I off on this?