Dialog editor
The great 2017 earthquake of Dover was really more hype than headline.
Father James Lentini, pastor of Holy Cross parish in Dover, said the most memorable aspect of the Dec. 1 temblor was his phone lighting up from concerned friends who heard the news that a shaker measured at magnitude 4.1 and was centered just outside of Dover.
People from neighboring states could feel the effects of the quake, but no injuries or damages were reported anywhere, including where it originated.
“Nothing happened,” said Father Lentini.
“It was a non-event,” he said. “I jokingly told people at Sunday Mass the second collection was for the victims of the Delaware earthquake. It got a big laugh. It was the non-event of the century.”
Father Lentini said he was indoors when it happened. “I heard the noise and felt the shake and that was it. If you weren’t inside, you didn’t even know anything was going on. I did have more relatives and friends calling, so that was nice.”
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it was the largest quake within a 100-mile radius at least since 1994 when a magnitude 4.6 shook near Reading, Pa. and it may be the largest earthquake in Delaware since an event on Oct 9, 1871 along the Delaware River near Wilmington.
