"They felt the building rattle," Capt. Michael Crowley of the Weymouth Fire Department said.
Crowley said Tuesday morning's tremor originated at the Super Shine Auto Wash on Route 3A.
A faulty heating system at the car wash produced vibrations and noise strong and loud enough to convince neighbors that something big was happening, he said.
At about 6 a.m., the fire department started getting calls about loud booms and the ground shaking at or around the car wash, which is at 697 Bridge St. (Route 3A). A police officer who was about 100 yards from the car wash said he felt the tremors, Crowley said.
Crowley called the Weston Observatory to see if a quake had hit the region.
"I thought they were going to say, 'You're out of your mind,' but they did have a small (earthquake) north of Boston," Crowley said.
The observatory said the quake was so minor that it couldn't have been felt in Weymouth.
While the car wash was closed temporarily, utility workers found that the heating system was vibrating strongly while trying to power up. Crowley said the shaking stopped once the heater was turned off.
At about the same time, the Lowe's Home Improvement store next to the car wash closed for about a half-hour after a leaky pipe set off the store's fire alarms. Crowley blamed freezing temperatures for the broken pipe.
"Maybe the tremors shook (the pipe) enough to loosen something up, sped up the process," Crowley said, "but it was eventually going to go anyway."
From Patriot Ledger
