Small Earthquake Gives Peabody Bit Of A Shake

PEABODY, MA — Peabody residents who felt a little shake early Sunday morning were not necessarily imagining things.

The city — which has dealt with several unexplained loud booms and rumbles in recent months — did experience a legitimate earthquake Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Survey reported the quake measured at a 1.4 magnitude in Peabody 3 miles west of Salem and 3.5 miles south/southwest of Danvers.

Earthquakes of that size do not cause damage and are rarely even felt by most people.

The gentle rock of a confirmed quake was probably a relief for anyone who did feel it compared to this winter when residents reported loud booms they said shook houses and sounded like explosions.

Peabody fire and police investigated the 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 exhausting 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 blasts and concluded they were most likely a "naturally occurring incident."

In the months since more city residents have reported random crashes and booms to Patch and on social media, many of which also occurred without explanation.

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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.)