Earthquake

[wallycat]

Anyone else feel the earthquake early this morning in the Illinois/Wisconsin area?
DH woke up at 1:30 and said the closet doors were rattling.
I am NOT a sound sleeper, but slept right through this.
I thought he was joking till I heard it on the news this morning.
4.5 on the scale :o

[Gail]

That's a fairly big one for the Midwest, isn't it?

[wallycat]

I think they said there was one almost like this in 2002...I must be a Californian at heart...don't even remember it :o
They are rare, but guess there is a fault line going through the Midwest and the EAst coast somewhere.

[sneezles]

Originally posted by wallycat
They are rare, but guess there is a fault line going through the Midwest and the EAst coast somewhere.

I always thought it ran the length of Illinois but did some looking and found this (and it doesn't bode well if the predictions pan out! :eek: ):

The New Madrid Seismic zone lies within the central Mississippi Valley, extending from northeast Arkansas, through southeast Missouri, western Tennessee, western Kentucky to southern Illinois. Historically, this area has been the site of some of the largest earthquakes in North America. Between 1811 and 1812, 4 catastrophic earthquakes, with magnitude estimates greater than 7.0, occurred during a 3-month period. Hundreds of aftershocks followed over a period of several years. The largest earthquakes to have occurred since then were on January 4, 1843 and October 31, 1895 with magnitude estimates of 6.0 and 6.2 respectively. In addition to these events, seven events of magnitude >= 5.0 have occurred in the area. Instruments were installed in and around this area in 1974 to closely monitor seismic activity. Since then, more than 4000 earthquakes have been located, most of which are too small to be felt. On average one earthquake per year will be large enough to be felt in the area.

The New Madrid seismic zone is so named because the town of New Madrid, Missouri was the closest settlement to the epicenters of the 1811-1812 quakes. At that time, St. Louis and other major cities in the central U.S. were sparsely settled. At least 3 of the series of earthquakes were felt throughout much of the U.S. and as far away as Quebec. The potential for the recurrence of such earthquakes and their impact today on densely populated cities in and around the seismic zone, has generated much research devoted to understanding earthquakes. By closely monitoring the earthquake activity, scientists can hope to understand their causes, recurrence rates, ground motion and disaster mitigation. The probability for an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or greater is significant in the near future, with a 50% chance by the year 2000 and a 90% chance by the year 2040. A quake with a magnitude equal to that of the 1811- 1812 quakes could result in great loss of life and property damage in the billions of dollars. Scientists believe we could be overdue for a large earthquake and through research and public awareness may be able to prevent such losses.

[AnnaSue]

Wallycat.. I'm not a sound sleeper either, but everyone else I talked to today woke up from it... but not me. I must've been really tired, because usually anything will wake me up.

[Canice]

I think a 4.5 would wake me up.

Around 2 AM Sunday DBF mumbles, "Did we just have an earthquake?" "No." "Are you sure?" "Yes" "OK, it must have been a dream." Back to sleep. About 2 hours later, "We had an earthquake!" "No, no earthquake." "Really?" And back to sleep again. About two hours after THAT he says, "I had a dream we had an earthquake."

Guess what he told me over coffee in the morning? Yup, "I had a dream there was a big earthquake." "Yes, I know" I said dryly. He just blinked and said, "How would you know that?" :rolleyes:

[Pony]

Yes, I noticed it. I thought I was dreaming, quite confused. Then fell right back asleep. Our landlord is a tad strange so I thought he was doing something to the house :rolleyes: . Sometimes you will find him around 11pm with a light on his hat pulling weeds. So, I thought he came up w/ another one of his bright ideas. :D Then I realized what happened when I woke up. Strange!

[mbrogier]

I was sitting on the sofa when the whole apartment building started moving back and forth. It felt like it was being blown by a hurricane force wind...but it was calm outside. I could feel myself being shook up and down. I remember thinking, "Nah, there aren't earthquakes in Illinois..." I checked this website an hour later. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US10/37.47.-95.-85.html
It was on the news all day today. I know all of you in California think we're nuts.:D

[Canice]

I don't think you're nuts! 4.5 is a good shake, and you're just not expecting that in most places.
I'll be sure to post next time we get a "snowstorm" ...when there's an inch and half of snow at the peaks of the highest mountains... That always covers the news for days! :o

[Gail]

Equally pathetic is Southern California's Big-Story-at-Eleven-- Stormwatch-- if there's anything more than mist on the ground.

And by the way, they report small earthquakes on the news here, too. Can't tell you how many times I'll hear "This just in. A temblor registering 3.8 on the Richter scale was just reported in the area of Lompoc." Around here, it seems to me about as newsworthy as reporting that someone ran a red light.

[Canice]

No kidding, Gail -how irritating is that? "This just in!! Cans fell of a shelf in rural Pooka County, and residents reported rattling glasswear. Stand by for more on this breaking story!"

[Gail]

Originally posted by Canice
No kidding, Gail -how irritating is that? "This just in!! Cans fell of a shelf in rural Pooka County, and residents reported rattling glasswear. Stand by for more on this breaking story!"

Was that a pun?

...and isn't Pooka County somewhere in Hawaii? :p

[sneezles]

Originally posted by Gail
Equally pathetic is Southern California's Big-Story-at-Eleven-- Stormwatch-- if there's anything more than mist on the ground.


Ha! While we were living in Singapore the news director had been to London for some conference and after he returned we suddenly had a weather forecast every day! Now living that close to the equator it seemed rather ridiculous to me. And 24 years later I can still tell you that daily forecast..

"Highs will be in the low 90's with 90% humidity. The overnight low will be 72º. The sun will set at 7:00pm and rise at 7:00am (OK now this did change by about 5 minutes). And it will rain somewhere on the island."

[Beth]

Originally posted by Gail
Equally pathetic is Southern California's Big-Story-at-Eleven-- Stormwatch-- if there's anything more than mist on the ground.


We got that in the San Francisco area too when I was there. I laughed about how streets could flood and it not really rain. So gentle too -- none of the lightening and thunderboomers that make you jump and take notice.

And of course, as soon as the skies cleared, the drought stories would begin anew.

[lorilei]

:D Ah, yes. That little tremor. The one I slept through.

No wonder I woke up with a crink in my neck... :confused:

[Gail]

Originally posted by sneezles


Ha! While we were living in Singapore the news director had been to London for some conference and after he returned we suddenly had a weather forecast every day! Now living that close to the equator it seemed rather ridiculous to me. And 24 years later I can still tell you that daily forecast..

"Highs will be in the low 90's with 90% humidity. The overnight low will be 72º. The sun will set at 7:00pm and rise at 7:00am (OK now this did change by about 5 minutes). And it will rain somewhere on the island."

Man, I don't know HOW you survived living there. I remember parts of my body sweating I didn't even know had sweat glands...

I hate extreme heat. To this day, whenever I'm uncomfortably hot, I remind myself "it's not Singapore." Somehow that keeps things in perspective.

[sneezles]

Originally posted by Gail


Man, I don't know HOW you survived living there. I remember parts of my body sweating I didn't even know had sweat glands...

I hate extreme heat. To this day, whenever I'm uncomfortably hot, I remind myself "it's not Singapore." Somehow that keeps things in perspective.

I had 4 window units all cranked to the coldest. Workers use to ask if they could keep their shoes on because the tile floor was so cold!:p Richard was probably the only man on the island to sleep under a blanket!;)
So living in Texas during the summer reminds me how much I cherish fall, winter and spring! :)