Earthquake

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,569]

So who felt the earthquake that hit southern Illinois this morning, either one of the earthquakes? My daughter felt it as it shook her bed. Myself, didn't feel a thing. :thumbs:

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,569]

Didn't feel a thing here in NY :thumbs:

[Jim_M 179]

They said we could feel it pretty well here in north east Indiana, but I didn't feel it. My wife was outside with the dogs at that time and she didn't feel it. I asked her if the dogs acted funny and she said they didn't.

I figured that Frank ( a miniature Dachshund) would feel it, since he's about as close to the ground as you can get, but she said the only thing he was interested in was taking a leak on my truck tires.

[Rollerman 290]

We lost power here in Millersburg shortly after the event...but turned out to be unrelated to the earthquake.

I didn't notice it at all to be honest...lot of people around down said they did though.

[hoosier 1]

Shaking beds woke my family up. Soon as it quit my alarm clock went off . Time to get up anyway. Third one I've felt here in my lifetime. I just can't imagine what one of the big ones must be like. Even these small tremors kinda raise the hair on the back of your neck. :thumbs:

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,569]

From what I understand, this was along a minor fault line, the Wabash. But, since the midwest soil composition is harder than the west coast and there is more granite, earthquakes can be felt over a larger area than the ones, say in California. This one was supposed to be felt from Georgia to the Dakotas. I'm assuming that was the first one, which was 5.2, while the second one was 4.6. I lived near the New Madrid fault which is larger. I'm not looking forward if that one shakes, rattles and rolls. The last time there was a quake along the New Madrid fault line, it was a major one (early 1800s).

[hoosier 1]

For what it's worth, I've read it's not if but when the New Madrid fault lets loose again. There was not alot of stuff to damage when the big one happened in the 1800's. Can you imagine today? It was not so many years ago insurers around here started selling earthquake coverage.

[horseheadhunter 17]

I was awakened in my bed at about 5:40 something here in Sabina & boy that was sure a strange feeling. I got up out of the bed & the floor was moving under me,but still did not know what it was untill I turned on the news.

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,569]

Yeah, the last time the New Madrid fault gave way, the Mississippi River ran backwards for a while. I think that was 1811.

[hoosier 1]

I expect no one is interested anymore, but anyway. New Madrid fault. Estimates range 7.0 to 8.1. magnitude for each. Three quakes. Dec. 16 1811, Jan.23, 1812, Feb.7 1812. Bigguns.

[wh500special 2,249]

Just felt another shake a few minutes ago (Monday morning 1:35-ish waiting for drywall mud to dry)...

The BIG quakes from the New Madrid (not pronounced like the city in Spain by the way) fault not only were probably the strongest to ever hit the US, they also lasted for a LONG time...several minutes if I recall from the History channel and actually contiued for several days. Rang church bells in Boston and toppled a steeple in NYC!

Horseshoe lake in Southern IL was formed when the Mississippi river was redirected as a consequence of the quake. The river flowed backwards too as Terry wrote when the ground heaved up and formed temporary dams.

That fault is an anomoly and the only one like it (known) in the world. Unlike all the other faultlines (san Andreaus, etc,) it does NOT lie along the junction of two tectonic plates. Instead, the New Madrid fault is in the middle of the North American plate.

They talk about if it ever lets go with the same magnitude again, Memphis and St. Louis - with their masonry construction - will crumble. And, to make matters more interesting and exciting, they figure most midwestern bridges between Indy and KC will collapse thus taking down most highway and rail travel.

Exciting stuff! Seeing how we handled Katrina it might be REALLY exciting!

Steve

[Nick 13]

For those of you with high speed internet there is some good information about the fault line on youtube. The lower link is from a History channel documentary but both are worth watching. How to pronounce Madrid sounds like getting into the old potato pronunciation discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk65OoajRzg

[Nick 13]

Deleted this post.

Looks like it worked the first time when it had said ERROR. :thumbs: