An earthquake centered 15 miles southwest of Plattsburgh, N.Y., created tremors early Saturday morning that were felt throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic but did not cause significant material damage.
The quake, which had a magnitude of 5.1 according to the United States Geological Survey, occurred at 6:50 a.m. and was met by surprise rather than shock by most Dartmouth students. Some dismissed the shaking as the result of noisy neighbors or an unbalanced washing machine.
"I was sleeping like a baby," Dan Robinson '05 said. Robinson, like many other students, did not wake up from the trembles of the earthquake.
"I slept through it and the person I was sleeping with did not," Lauren Foley '03 said.
Grant Calhoun '04 added, "I slept through it and the person I was sleeping with did also."
For Earth Sciences professor Jim Aronson, Saturday's earthquake was an invigorating experience.
"It was a really nice-feeling earthquake," Aronson said. "It just makes you feel attuned to nature when you get to experience something like that. Fortunately, no severe human damage was done."
Each person's response to the tremors varied according to wherever they were at the time. Most students who were woken up by the quake reported feelings of momentary confusion or shock, but few were actually terrified, as the shaking lasted for only seconds.
Kristin Shigley '02 said, "I thought it could have been construction outside that was extremely powerful. Everyone in my house woke up and we were all excited because none of us have ever felt an earthquake."
"I was scared for my life," Glenn Jacobson '03 said, adding that it was only "in a figurative sense."
No destruction or serious movement of objects occurred, although students reported shaking beds, walls and belongings.
"It was about 10 or 20 seconds of shaking, and I thought I was maybe dreaming," Cat McManus '04 said. "My bedside table was definitely shaking around and some stuff fell off my windowsill."
Earthquakes of this magnitude usually occur in the western United States, adding to East Coast residents' shock and concern. Such quakes in New England are uncommon, Aronson said, but are not entirely absent.
"We don't live in a tectonically active edge of a tectonic plate, like the whole Pacific Margin is," he said. "As a result, earthquakes are less frequent."
Plattsburgh, in northeastern New York, is in the Northern New York-Western Quebec seismic zone, which stretches from the Adirondack Mountains into Quebec. Earthquakes in this region are relatively infrequent and low in magnitude.
Hanover is approximately 130 miles from the earthquake's epicenter. Aronson noted that Hanover is between two modestly active seismic zones and that Saturday's quake was the longest he personally remembers feeling.
