Wednesday’s low-level earthquake had epicenter in Haverhill area

HAVERHILL — A midday earthquake near Haverhill on Tuesday rattled the nerves of area residents but otherwise there were no reports of injuries or property damage suffered in the low-level temblor, according to town officials.

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake recorded at 12:33 p.m. and centered 3.1 miles east-southeast of Haverhill near Lilly Pond Road was reported felt by people throughout Grafton, Orange and Windsor counties and as far away as New London, Conn., and upstate New York, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“We got probably 10 calls from people about it, some saying they heard like something blew up,” Valerie Morse, administrative assistant with the Haverhill Police Department said on Wednesday. “We had people saying ‘there was an explosion in the gravel pit.’ ”

Earthquakes in the Twin States are a rare but not unheard of phenomenon.

Since 1990, there have been a total of 20 recorded earthquakes in New Hampshire and two recorded earthquakes in Vermont, the largest a magnitude 3.8 quake in Lisbon, N.H., in 1995 and a magnitude 3.8 quake in Livermore, N.H., according to USGS.