In the weeks afterwards, many citizens of Massachusetts continued to see the earthquake as evidence of God's divine wrath. Reverend Thomas Prince of South Church blamed the quake on the prodigious use of Benjamin Franklin's lightning rods, claiming that they interfered with God's usual way of expressing displeasure with people's morals. (At the time, lightning strikes were seen as divine retribution, and the theory went that if God was stopped from using lightning, He would resort to using earthquakes instead.)
Sources:
Liell, Scott M. "Shaking the Foundation of Faith." (New York Times, Nov. 18, 2005)
Earthquake Hazards Program: Earthquake History of Massachusetts
Earthquake Hazards Program: Largest Earthquake in Massachusetts, Cape Ann, Massachusetts