Did you feel this morning’s 5.4-magnitude Illinois earthquake??
At 4:30 a.m. Friday morning, that ”all shook up” feeling in the floor wasn’t the King (Elvis) making a comeback, it was a REAL LIFE earthquake folks! Right in the midwest of the continental United States!
In fact it’s an active geological area prone to earthquakes every 300-500 years, the most recent major earthquake event being 3 major shakers back in the winter of 1811-12 one of which reportedly caused the Mississippi to run backwards, but in nearby Bellmont there was an earthquake registering 5.0 in 2002.
While this quake wasn’t on a scale of the 1811 event (reportedly near 8.0 on the Richter Scale) it does seem very odd to hear of earthquakes in places like Vernon County and the Coulee Region in southeastern Illinois. We are certainly more accustomed to hearing about earthquakes in Japan, the Pacific Rim, or California..
It just goes to show how dynamic and changing this planet really is, and although to us these geologic events seem far between and rare, from a geological viewpoint the earths crust is an ever changing and dynamic environment.
Still..if I had my preferences of where to live, I’d feel a lot safer in Vernon County Illinois than in San Bernadino California.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Diane Bjorling // Apr 18, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hi Tim:
The earthquake story is certainly being talked about everywhere. I was just talking to a friend who felt the quake in Indiana but is thankfully O.K.
We sure take mother earth for granted so many times, I guess she has to let her presence be known.
Thanks for you opinion on this story and I am glad that at least from what i have heard so far, no serious injuries to date
To Your Success
2 R. Hiebert // Apr 18, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Before I retire for bed, which is usually around midnight, I’ll take a swig of Asai. This helps to sleep through ’till morning’s first light but this morning for some reason even that seem to work. Yes, I did see 0503 hours on the clock but didn’t feel anything then. Now that you mention it, I’ll bet you that something rattled my kitchen.
3 Mary Smith // Apr 18, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Hi Tim,
Here in Indiana there was some shaking! I slept through it but our daughter was awakened from her sleep.
Michael also felt it sitting in a chair downstairs and thought it was cool! Must be a guy thing.
4 Anita // Apr 18, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Hi, I live in east central Illinois and have family in southern Illinois and we definitely felt the early morning earthquake. The house shook and made some unusually noises. This one turned out to be a 5.2
After a few more minor tremors of 2.5, we also had another one that many people felt at 4.5 later this morning.
When you are not used to such earth tremors, it can be a bit unnerving at first. Brings to mind all those disaster movies you have watched.
Anyway, everyone is sharing quake stories and waiting to see if any more happen today.
At least this is not a boring Friday in Illinois.
Anita, Bead Jewelry By Anita
5 Lorraine Smith // Apr 18, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Hey Tim,
I lived in southern IL in 1968 when we had a nasty wake-up call from Mother Nature via the New Madrid fault. It ‘rocked our world’ for sure! It was such a weird feeling to not be able to find something to hang onto! I’m with you - give me Jackson County IL over San Francisco any day.
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