Peabody Shakes Again; Public Earthquake Meeting Called

PEABODY, MA — The city is bringing shaken and stirred residents together in search of answers next week after the third small earthquake in the past month rumbled through Peabody late Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed a 1.3-magnitude earthquake centered about a half-mile north of downtown Peabody on Wednesday. It was the third earthquake of a similarly minor size reported in recent weeks.

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt said a public meeting will be held on Aug. 25 at the Wiggin Auditorium at Peabody City Hall to help try and explain what might be going on with the increasingly quivering city.

"We will be joined that evening by Boston College Professor of Geophysics and consultant Dr. John Ebel and also a representative of the USGS who will provide an overview and answer any questions from residents," Bettencourt said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Peabody Municipal Light Company said "we feel the quakes too" and said the USGS asked it to ask residents to report any disturbances "so they can start collecting more data on them."

Information can be reported here.

For the second time in two weeks on Aug. 4, the city recorded a small earthquake with the Geological Survey citing a 1.2 magnitude event.

The previous weekend, a 1.4 earthquake was measured in Peabody.

While those earthquakes may account for some of the noise and rumblings that residents have experienced in recent weeks, experts say that level of seismic activity is often unnoticeable — leaving some to question on social media whether something greater is in the mix.

The city has dealt with several unexplained rocking and rattling in recent months, including one episode this winter when residents reported loud booms they said shook houses and sounded like explosions.

Peabody fire and police investigated those reports in February — even sending out drones and trained K9 units the next day in hopes of finding a source for the blasts that some residents claimed caused cracks in their ceilings.

But, despite exhaustive research of similar incidents across the country and consulting a Salem State University team that studies weather-related phenomenon, police said they never determined a firm reason for the blasts, and concluded they were most likely a "naturally occurring incident."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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