Eathquake hits Illinois

WGN ^ | 2/10/10 | C. Hayes

[Daisyjane69]

C. Hayes WGNTV NEWS February 10, 2010

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake hit northern Illinois early Wednesday morning.

The quake struck at 3:59 a.m. in Sycamore in DeKalb County. The quake could be felt as far away as Chicago... 50 miles from the epicenter.

We'll have more information as it becomes available.

For the latest information, go to the U.S. Geological Survey website.

[a fool in paradise]

GLOBAL WARMING!!!

[Finalapproach29er]

God’s omen?

[Palladin]

I’ve felt a couple of shakers in PA. (around 3 Mag.) but never a roller. Maybe because my part of the state is built on solid limestone?

[fivecatsandadog]

Tremors........... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

[MinuteGal]

Hey, I was your neighbor.....and possibly your schoolmate as a kid.

I think the earthquake is bringing out everyone who went to school with everyone else.

In order not to turn this thread into a class reunion, LOL, I'm going to freepmail you.

Leni

[GOPJ]

I got out of the bedroom quickly and am now in another room typing.

Glad you're OK, Leni...

[fivecatsandadog]

"Don't make Me come down there." .... God

[GOPJ]

I think we should start a write in campaign to have in named Bush's Fault. I mean everything else is lets just make it official.

I like it!

[knittnmom]

Cool! Fitchburg is a nice city, even if it does tend to lean left a bit.

[bd476]

Thanks for the Ping, Cindy. .

Earthquake Ping List.
If you wish to be removed from the Earthquake Ping List or added to it, please FReepmail me.

Magnitude 3.8 - ILLINOIS

2010 February 10 09:59:33 UTC

Earthquake Details Magnitude 3.8
Date-Time * Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 09:59:33 UTC
* Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 03:59:33 AM at epicenter
Location 42.053°N, 88.412°W
Depth 5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program
Region ILLINOIS
Distances

* 2 km (1 miles) SSE (168°) from Pingree Grove, IL
* 6 km (4 miles) SW (215°) from Gilberts, IL
* 9 km (6 miles) WSW (243°) from Sleepy Hollow, IL
* 34 km (21 miles) NNW (344°) from Aurora, IL
* 65 km (40 miles) WNW (292°) from Chicago, IL

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist

Tectonic Summary

EARTHQUAKES IN THE STABLE CONTINENTAL REGION

Most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains has infrequent earthquakes. Here and there earthquakes are more numerous, for example in the New Madrid seismic zone centered on southeastern Missouri, in the Charlevoix-Kamouraska seismic zone of eastern Quebec, in New England, in the New York - Philadelphia - Wilmington urban corridor, and elsewhere.

However, most of the enormous region from the Rockies to the Atlantic can go years without an earthquake large enough to be felt, and several U.S. states have never reported a damaging earthquake. The earthquakes that do occur strike anywhere at irregular intervals.

Earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains, although less frequent than in the West, are typically felt over a much broader region. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast.

A magnitude 4.0 eastern U.S. earthquake typically can be felt at many places as far as 100 km (60 mi) from where it occurred, and it infrequently causes damage near its source.

A magnitude 5.5 eastern U.S. earthquake usually can be felt as far as 500 km (300 mi) from where it occurred, and sometimes causes damage as far away as 40 km (25 mi).

FAULTS

Earthquakes everywhere occur on faults within bedrock, usually miles deep. Most of the region's bedrock was formed as several generations of mountains rose and were eroded down again over the last billion or so years.

At well-studied plate boundaries like the San Andreas fault system in California, often scientists can determine the name of the specific fault that is responsible for an earthquake. In contrast, east of the Rocky Mountains this is rarely the case.

All parts of this vast region are far from the nearest plate boundaries, which, for the U.S., are to the east in the center of the Atlantic Ocean, to the south in the Caribbean Sea, and to the west in California and offshore from Washington and Oregon.

The region is laced with known faults but numerous smaller or deeply buried faults remain undetected.

Even most of the known faults are poorly located at earthquake depths. Accordingly, few earthquakes east of the Rockies can be linked to named faults.

It is difficult to determine if a known fault is still active and could slip and cause an earthquake. In most areas east of the Rockies, the best guide to earthquake hazards is the earthquakes themselves.

Magnitude 3.8 - ILLINOIS

[MinuteGal]

Thanks for the thoughtful sentiment.

Leni

[Enchante]

Whenever that New Madrid fault goes off again the disaster will be incredible

[Petruchio]

I am in Hillside. Slept right through it.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Not that I’d tease her or anything like that.....but how far was it from Rockford? My sister needs...oh, my concern. :) :) :)

[pollywog]

Interesting at the least!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

We just had two (small) tornadoes here in Orange County, south of Los Angeles...

[La Enchiladita]

In California, we have earthquakes... what is an eathquake?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nice explanation.

[bd476]

It sure is interesting. As much as I don't like earthquakes in California, if I had to be in an earthquake, and depending upon the size and depth of the quake, California would seem a safer place to be during an earthquake than in the Midwest during one of their earthquakes.