CT had an earthquake yesterday. Does this mean more could follow?

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There was rattling underfoot in Greenwich on Thursday afternoon, and it wasn’t from a fleet of trucks or heavy construction work. It came from a 1.4-magnitude earthquake that occurred two kilometers northwest of Cos Cope at 12:38 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey. Earthquakes less than magnitude 2.0 are considered small earthquakes, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

A small earthquake was last detected in the city in 2016, but how common are earthquakes across Connecticut? Is there a possibility of a major earthquake? Here’s what you need to know about the phenomenon in Connecticut.

How common are earthquakes in Connecticut?

According to the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, earthquakes are an “extraordinary event” in the state. However, more than 115 earthquakes have been documented in Connecticut since the first recorded instance in 1678, notes the Northeastern States Emergency Consortium.

Could Connecticut be hit by a strong earthquake?

A severe earthquake is unlikely by the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Geologist Terry Tolles told Brown University that hundreds of years of seismic data in the state show a history of small earthquakes, with the largest earthquake in recent memory being a 3.1-magnitude earthquake in Plainfield in 2015.

According to Tolles, earthquakes result from “sliding on small portions of normally unrecognized faults” or “places of weakness in the Earth’s crust left over hundreds of millions of years ago when New England was an active plate boundary.”

Most of these bugs are now inactive, Tulles told Brown, and they don’t connect to one another like those on the West Coast. This lack of “interconnected faults” reduces the chances of a major earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher.

When do aftershocks occur?

Most aftershocks tend to follow large earthquakes, defined by the Southern California Earthquake Center as an earthquake large enough to cause significant damage. Michigan Technological University further states that earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 or greater are capable of causing minor to major damage. The largest earthquake in modern history occurred in Connecticut in 2015 when a 3.1-magnitude earthquake was felt in Plainfield.

Aftershocks occur as a result of a change in the stress level on the main shock fault, the Southern California earthquake epicenter notes, and most aftershocks will occur on the same fault.

The USGS notes that 6 percent of earthquakes are followed by a larger earthquake. In these cases, the first earthquake is considered a “bad omen”. In these cases, the Los Angeles Times reports that small earthquakes can sometimes precede earthquakes of at least magnitude 4.0.

What is the most powerful earthquake in the history of the state?

According to ConnecticutHistory.org in Connecticut Humanities, the largest earthquake in state history occurred on May 16, 1791, in Moodus. The first earthquake that day came “with two heavy shocks in quick succession and a several-meter fissure in the ground,” according to ConnecticutHistory.org. Thirty lighter shocks occurred soon after and over 100 lighter shocks lasted all night.

Moodus derives its name from the Native American term “Machimoodus”, which means place of noise, and the city and the surrounding area around east of Hadam were notorious for earthquakes.

Is there a fault line in Connecticut?

The town of Modus that recorded the most powerful earthquake in history reports underground faults in the central part of Connecticut near the town and the East Haddam area, according to ConnecticutHistory.org. In a study of microquakes (low intensity earthquakes) that began in August 1981, the area around East Haddam recorded more than 500 fault change events in three months, according to ConnecticutHistory.org.

In 2011, firefighters responded to a loud “bang” near Modus that was later attributed to a “strong underground shift,” according to ConnecticutHistory.org.

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