page_title: 1755 Cape Ann earthquake
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: 1755 Cape Ann earthquake / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Aerial view of Back Bay, Boston including the Prudential Center and John Hancock Tower
context_page_description: The 1755 Cape Ann earthquake took place off the coast of the British Province of Massachusetts Bay on November 18. At between 6.0 and 6.3 on the Richter scale, it remains the largest earthquake in the history of Massachusetts. No one was killed, but it damaged hundreds of buildings in Boston and was felt as far north as Nova Scotia and as far south as South Carolina. Sailors on a ship more than 200 miles offshore felt the quake, and mistook it at first for their ship running aground. Many residents of Boston and the surrounding areas attributed the quake to God, and it occasioned a brief increase in religious fervor in the city. Modern studies estimate that if a similar quake shook Boston today, it would result in as much as $5 billion in damage and hundreds of deaths. Some discussion has revolved around the idea that this may have been a remotely triggered event.
context_section_description: Many Massachusetts residents of the time perceived the quake as punishment from God for immoral behavior. In the days after the earthquake, special prayer services were held and civic authorities declared fast days. A number of sermons and other writings were published as a consequence, including Jeremiah Newland's Verses Occasioned by the Earthquakes in the Month of November, 1755 and Thomas Prince's Earthquakes the Works of God and Tokens of his Just Displeasure. Not all explanations of the event were theological; John Winthrop, a Harvard professor, proposed an alternate explanation having to do with heat and chemical vapors inside the surface of the earth.
  Since the 1755 earthquake, Boston and its surrounding towns have become a major metropolitan area. Much new construction has been built on infill, especially in the Back Bay area, which may be prone to greater shaking and to compaction of the sand and gravel used as fill. Many older buildings in the Boston area are built from stone and brick, and are likely to collapse completely during a major earthquake. Given this, modern observers have expressed concern about the effects of another quake in such a major city. A 1990 study by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency estimated potential financial losses at between $4 billion and $5 billion, and potential loss of life in the hundreds. As a consequence, the state has updated building codes and zoning laws to require that new construction and additions in vulnerable areas be built to resist earthquakes.
  Opposition to the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, about 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Ann on the New Hampshire shoreline, highlighted the earthquake risk of the area. The plant was built regardless.
caption: An aerial view of Back Bay in Boston, which could suffer serious damage if another quake like the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake were to occur
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