Posted on 05/01/2016 10:40:35 AM PDT by Tours
LA CENTER, KY (KFVS) - An earthquake near La Center, Kentucky was felt in parts of Illinois and Missouri early on Sunday morning.
According to the National Weather Service in Paducah and the USGS, a magnitude 3.5 was recorded about 8.7 miles north of La Center and 24.2 miles west of Paducah. It happened around 1:12 a.m. and had a depth of about 8.3 miles.
The quake was felt in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee.
The furthest the quake was reportedly felt was in Miller, Mo. which is 267 miles away from the epicenter.
Far too close to New Madrid, MO for comfort.
Meth lab...................
For the Californians out there who wonder how a 3.5 mag earthquake could be felt so far away—over 250 miles away, for some reason earthquakes here travel much farther than their west-coast counterparts. It is said that the huge New Madrid quake was felt on the east coast.
Had to be fracing. /s There isn’t a shale well operation within miles and miles of there. Just wanted to head that off.
Yep, so am I.
Yup. St. Louis, Chicago, etc. All those older brick buildings would collapse in a heap almost instantly.
Bedrock I think.
I would not want to feel that if I was taking a cave tour in KY.
Memphis too.
The New Madrid quake is suspected of beinge the strongest quake in North America since the white man arrived.
some reason earthquakes here travel much farther than their west-coast counterparts.
In a nutshell...On the West coast much of the land is sandy, loamy soil...hence any quake effects are somewhat dampened to the local area. In the Midwest/east coast, the underlying structure is bedrock. A quake in the east, if strong enough, could be 'felt' from Memphis to the Boston area....
The east sits atop rock that is old and "cold," and is less able to absorb seismic waves than the malleable, younger rock of the West Coast's active earthquake zone. East Coast quakes tend to "ring like a bell."
I have read that the New Madrid fault (and the Mississippi Valley) mark where the the North American Plate started to split and then for some reason stopped. Also, until about a thousand years ago, the Ohio emptied into the Gulf alongside the Mississippi-sober of a long twin rivers.
A repeat of the New Madrid quake would devastate brick cities like St Louis and Memphis.
It would be alarming for sure, but they survived the New Madrid quake. Just watch out for falling stalagtites.
In 2012 there was a 5.0 quake up near Montréal, Canada. I felt tremors at work near BWI Airport (Baltimore, MD), a distance of 550 miles.
Then, when we had that 5.8 quake in southern Virginia (the one that damaged the Washington Monument), my building shook. Bricks on the side came off. The epicenter (Mineral, VA) was 150 miles south.
There is also some involvement of the Gulf plate pushing up from the south.
Probably somewhat due to a lot of metamorphism in the east. Denser mediums facilitate particularly P waves more efficiently than less consolidated materials.
I think....
The reason it’s felt so far away is because the earth’s crust is much narrower here than the west coast. The narrower the earth’s crust, the farther away it can be felt. That’s why if the New Madrid fault goes critical, it will essentially destroy much of the infrastructure in the eastern part of the US.
I live less than 90 miles from New Madrid. Lots of people will suffer should there be a quake like before.
I live less than 90 miles from New Madrid
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I was born and raised in New Madrid county. I experienced minor quakes frequently as a kid. I still have lots of family there.
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