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Midwest 5.2 Earthquake


rhino
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I just felt an aftershock ... 10:15 AM central ... milder ... (they say 4.5)

But I was awake, thought maybe a big wind was blowing through or something, except it seemed the whole house was shuddering ... I never considered an earthquake till I saw it on the news a little later.

I'm in west central Illinois. ... my first earthquake experience ... shaken, not stirred :)

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Edited by rhino
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From this map it appears that zone is more south of St. Louis.

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But this seems to include today's epicenter, and where I live.

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That page said this ...

Earthquakes in the central or eastern United States affect much larger areas than earthquakes of similar magnitude in the western United States. For example, the San Francisco, California, earthquake of 1906 (magnitude 7.8) was felt 350 miles away in the middle of Nevada, whereas the New Madrid earthquake of December 1811 (magnitude 8.0) rang church bells in Boston, Massachusetts, 1,000 miles away. Differences in geology east and west of the Rocky Mountains cause this strong contrast.

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Yikes, Rhino - that info is unsettling! I heard about it this morning on the radio...I've never felt an earthquake - but it's unnerving to think about a situation where there's NO place you can run to for shelter - like from a tornado.

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Yikes, Rhino - that info is unsettling! I heard about it this morning on the radio...I've never felt an earthquake - but it's unnerving to think about a situation where there's NO place you can run to for shelter - like from a tornado.

Well the aftershock was just kinda neat ... I knew what it was and just watched the mirror shake a little, and there was a just a little rumble. But neither was enough to be scary ... the first was just strange as I figured some big storm had just suddenly blown in ...

My house is a little crooked now, but not too bad.

earthquake.jpg

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Folks on the west side of Columbus received a rude awakening when their beds started shaking. We are more northeast and I didn't feel or hear a thing. And I know what to look for, as when we lived on the west coast an earthquake of about the same magnitude hit several miles southwest of where we lived. I heard it first, thought a noisy truck was coming up the street. The screen door made a banging sound and then everything just rumbled. My son came halfway down the stairs, his eyes as big as saucers. My husband leaned out the bathroom door and yelled at our son for moving furniture around upstairs. I finally noticed the light fixture over the dining room table was swaying from side to side and yelled "Hey! It's an earthquake!" Then it was over just like that.

Son slept under the dining room table that night in a sleeping bag.

Not unexpected there. Pretty surprising here.

WG

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THIS was a quake:

250px-AlaskaQuake-FourthAve.jpg

March 27, 1964 started at 5:36 pm AK time. Under the measurement rules at the time it was 8.6 on the Richter scale, but they now use a different scale and it is rated as 9.2 on today's scale, the third most violent quake in historical records in the world. As I recall, it lasted about 5 minutes where I was, but it seemed like an eternity for 13 year old. My first thought was that the Russians had dropped a bomb on us. scary enough, but then when I looked out the window and saw the ground rolling and heaving in waves, it kinda made me hold my breath. The aftershocks often measuring in excess of 5 (Richter) went on for weeks if I recall correctly.

As I recall we were instructed (afterwards) to stand in exterior doorways, or to stand with our back to the wall of the bathroom where the plumbing fixtures are located. Fine lotta good that info coming late did. I desperately held onto my mom's favorite Japanese lamp in the picture window to keep it from falling and breaking. Oh well, at least I claimed the lamp from the estate a few years ago so it was worth it.

My brother was brave, and held the glass doors of the china hutch closed to save the figurines and german porcelain. Mom freaked out when she came around the corner and saw the silverware chest sliding back and forth above his head.

The noise I remember is the crash crash crash sounds of the baby food jars falling out of the kitchen cabinet breaking on the counter and floor. My baby sister slept peacefully through it all in her crib (next to a plumbing wall).

Going into Anchorage a few weeks later we were treated to scenes like the above where whole streets sank 12-20 feet. It was a devastating jolt to the eyes.

My father was awarded the Legion of Merit medal by the Army for his work developing, coordinating, and overseeing the plan to rebuild Seward. He never mentioned this to us, as to him it was just his job, but in looking through his discharge papers upon his death, I found the medal and the associated documents.

Every quake I have felt since that time was mild. 9.2 on the scale is equivalent to approximately 31 gigatons of TNT. The midwest's 5.5 is like 171 kilotons. Still, I am sure it could be quite disturbing when unexpected. Glad you are all safe.

~HAP

Edited by HAPe4me
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Call me a LeftCoaster. I feel way safer in earthquake country than I ever did in Tornado country. The frequency of earthquakes is so little or go without many noticing. When I lived in Tornado Country, it was scarey for me every night in the spring and summer when there were thunder storms with tornadic possibilities.

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We're in the western Chicago suburbs. My wife felt it but I didn't. We were in different rooms when it happened. She was by an outside wall so maybe that had something to do with it or maybe at that hour I wasn't awake enough, as I had just gotten out of bed shortly before.

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God first

Beloved rhino and others

God loves you all my dear friends

yes I felt one here in Ky about 5:30 am friday and another one a hour later did not know what happen until later that day

not sure alot about it but some one said 5.5 was measure here at Ft Knox Ky

it wake me up and shake the whole trailer but all is ok

thank you

with love and a holy kiss blowing your way Roy

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I was up and praying when it hit, and I thought "WOW! Yes, my prayers are being heard and answered from heaven!"

I heard glass tinkling....what???...then realized it was my bowl of glass flowers inherited from my grandma, so I jumped up after realizing it really was

an earthquake and went to put the bowl on my bed. I'm about 100 to 150 miles away, so I got a good jolt. Heard my rafters creaking and walls groaning...well back to remodeling, I guess. Haven't noticed any external damage but who knows what kind of damage there is internally. I guess time will tell. Also, about five minutes before it hit, my cat was outside and wanted to come in very badly, knocking against the mailbox on the wall of the house making noises to get my attention.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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