EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up to our bed shaking today at 4:30am. I told Wes "You are either shaking the bed, or we are having an earthquake". It lasted about 20 seconds or so. It was so weird that the neighborhood birds were really loud outside our window (like every morning) I figured that animals were quiet during a force of nature. Animals around the barnyard always seemed to know when a bad storm or tornado was looming. I got up and heard no sirens, no one was outside and everything was calm. I guess I expected the total opposite if an earthquake ever hit.

I was excited to learn that it really was and earthquake, as I was out of town, on vacation in Wisconsin, the last time one hit Illinois.

Guess we have to study earthquakes today!

Here is some info I found today:

Recent significant events in the Central US region
Did you feel it? Select an earthquake from the list to view a map or submit your own report. If you can't find the quake you felt please wait several minutes for it to appear online. If you still can't find it, fill out an unknown earthquake form.

To see more maps, check out our Top Ten Lists, which rank our most felt earthquakes ever. Also, look for important past earthquakes in the Archives.

Note: Maps are not created for events that do not result in a trigger at ANSS. These are generally smaller earthquakes that are not widely felt. We still accept questionnaires for these earthquakes, and we may manually add significant events to this website.


SELECT EARTHQUAKE
LOCATION DATE TIME MAGNITUDE
21 miles SW of Vincennes, Indiana
(ID 2008qza6) APR 18 2008 04:36:58 CDT 5.2
135 miles NNW of Bottineau, North Dakota
(ID 2008qsae) APR 10 2008 21:00:30 CDT 3.6
40 miles NNW of Beeville, Texas
(ID 2008qnat) APR 7 2008 04:51:13 CDT 3.9
HISTORIC EVENTS DATE TIME MAGNITUDE
20 miles S of Greeneville, Tennessee
AUG 24 2005 23:09:42 EDT 3.7
15 miles WSW of Blytheville, Arkansas
MAY 1 2005 07:37:32 CDT 4.1
8 miles NNW of Ottawa, Illinois
JUN 28 2004 01:10:52 CDT 4.2
8 miles ENE of Fort Payne, Alabama
APR 29 2003 03:59:37 CDT 4.6
12 miles W of Evansville, Indiana
JUN 18 2002 12:37:15 CDT 4.6
New Earthquake... Archives...



Illinois and earthquakes

• The U.S. Geological Survey says 796 earthquakes have occurred in the U.S. to date in 2008, including 21 on the level of 5.0 and three at 6.0.

• Illinois experiences one earthquake a year on average. Only one quake in 20 years causes damage.

• The last reported damage-causing earthquake measured 5.0 and centered in southeastern Illinois near Lawrenceville and Olney in June 1987.

• Serious damage occurs from a quake only once in every 70 to 90 years in the state.

• The Illinois Geological Survey says devastating earthquakes in the Central U.S. occur only once in every 700 to 1,200 years.

• The last major quake in the Midwest happened Halloween 1895 and was centered just south of Charleston. The magnitude was estimated 6.8 and people as far away as Pennsylvania reported feeling the tremor. Sill, no one was killed or injured and no buildings collapsed.

• The New Madrid Seismic Zone, of which portions of Illinois are a part, experienced three huge quakes estimated at more than 8.0 on the Richter Scale during the winter of 1811-12. The region was sparsely populated so only a few injuries are known. But, the force appeared to reverse the course of the Mississippi River for a time and rang church bells in Boston. The power opened fissures, formed lakes, uprooted and snapped trees, sunk or raised large sections of land more than 20 feet and affected 600,000 square miles.

• USGS scientists think a major quake occurs on the New Madrid Fault about once every 500 years. In 2003, the USGS predicted a 7 percent to 10 percent chance of an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.5 to 8.0 occurring along the New Madrid Fault in the next 50 years.

• Scientists estimate the likelihood of a damaging quake measuring 6.3 or greater in the Midwest in the next 15 years at 40 to 63 percent. The likelihood is nearly 100 percent one will occur in the next 50 years.