"Moodus Noises"

Legend tells us that the “noises” derived from a night where withches had met to do “battle”. King Machimoodus had ended it, terrifing the withces and one escaping back to Devil’s Hopyard. Moodus Noises are said to be derived from the night the Black witches of Haddam was challenged by the White Witches of Moodus. King Machimoodus put an end to it, by scarring the witches. Horrible noises continued through that October stormy night from Moodus Cave.   The largest fault system known as the Great Fault, bounds the Triassic Basin on the east, located about one mile west of Rockwill, near the north end of the basin and passes two miles east of Middletown to Short Beach on Long Island Sound. This fault had most activity about 200 million years ago. Now considered an inactive zone geologiclly.   The “rumblings” in Moodus were of scientific speculation for years. The native Indians call East Haddam “ Mooremoodus” or palce of noises and the town named Moodus derived from the indian word.   The most severe quake in East Haddam was on May 18, 1791. By an obserever of the quake described it “Starting at 8:00 pm with two very heavy shocks in quick sucession. The first most powerful, the earth appeared to undergo very violent convulsions”. Stone walls wre thrown down, chimneys were untopped, doors that were latched threw open. Thirty lighter ones followed in a short time amd upwards of 100 counted through the course of the night.   The shock was felt about 12 miles south in Clinton. The day after the quake in 1791, it’s said apertures and fissures were seen in the earth and rocks near Moodus River Falls stones of several tons in weight were thrown from their places.   The strognest tremor since the one in 1791 hit in Hartford, November 14,1925 at about 8 am. In East Haddam, at about the same time, the familiar “Moodus Noises” were heard from again and the rumblings were reported.     Information summorized from an article “Earthquake History of Connecticut” maintained by Madeline Zirbes. United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center.     Since 1925 the Moodus Noises are heard from, but not as severe as that of 1791. Now that we know of the “Black Witches verese the White Witches” as legends says, are the Noises caused by the fault or are they really caused by the battle of that October night?