Posted on 04/29/2003 2:05:39 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE
LOL - They've upped the magnitude to to a 4.9; they're saying that we shouldn't get any aftershocks.
ATLANTA - A 4.5 magnitude earthquake (news - web sites) centered in northern Alabama rattled windows and bookshelves around the South early Tuesday.
The rare Southern quake, which occurred at about 5 a.m., was centered near the Alabama-Georgia line, 27 miles northwest of Rome, Ga., according to the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites)'s Web site.
The quake was felt as far away as North Carolina and Kentucky. Emergency officials said they had not heard any reports of serious damage.
In Atlanta, about 160 miles from the epicenter, the quake moved dishes and pictures on shelves.
"My whole house shook, I could feel the whole wave go north to south," said Barry Goodno, a Georgia Tech structural engineering professor who specializes in earthquakes (news - web sites). "Everything was rattling through the room. It was not what I expected in Georgia.
"It's the kind of motion that could weaken structures or cause further damage," Goodno said. "It's not something to be overlooked. This could be a precursor, it could be a one-time release of energy, it could be an indication of things to come for several weeks."
Carolyn Parker of Gadsden, Ala., says the earthquake lasted about 45 seconds and woke her up.
"At first I thought it was like thunder," she told WSB-TV. "Then it was a lot heavier. It rattled the windows.
"My husband jumped out of bed. He said he thought it was like the end of the world or something. He ran outside."
Nick Jebeles of Remlap, Ala., said he and his wife also were awakened.
"I went out on my back porch because I thought it was a tornado, but the weather was fine," he said.
According to a geological map in my file, the epicenter is located on an old reverse fault underneath Lookout Mountain where the mountain crosses the state line.
Ever since the Jurassic opening of the Atlantic Ocean basin 140,000,000 years ago, the old compressional fault zones along the suture zone, in which the approaching Pangaean foreland was welded about 120,000,000 years earlier to the North American passive margin along the Brevard Fault Zone, have been gradually relaxing and releasing the planetary-scale compressional forces. This is very probably one of those events -- and no biggie.
Regards,
"LG"
I thought that lyric was:
"Doraville, a little country in the city....
Doraville, it ain't much but it's home!"
(Atlanta Rhythm Section)
Nothing to report. I slept through whatever event there was, but then I also slept through Hurricane Hugo as it passed over Charlotte back in the late 80's. The cats may have been awakened, but they aren't saying. Structure appears intact. The perpetual disarray of the palatial Spodefly World Headquarters prevents me from ascertaining if anything was jolted out of place. Unless damage is severe in the parking garage, I will probably not get out of having to go to work today.
I will report on any further activity at such time as it occurs, unless I am asleep.
We live right next to the CSX main line to Chattanooga -- so trains rumble by at odd hours all night long. I never stirred -- my subconscious mind probably just figured it was another train with a heavy load, nothing worth waking up for. I figure if it had been too bad, though, the dog would have complained and waked us up.
Slept through it in Duluth.
Walt
LOL! The antique clock chiming to boot is just too funny - thanks for posting this!
The crust in California is very shattered and fractured, and this causes seismic waves not to propagate very well at all.
Outside of California, the crust is much more solid and unified, so even though there are a lot fewer earthquakes, the ones there are are felt, and felt at their peak strength, at MUCH larger distances.
So it's not just that people not used to earthquakes think they're a bigger deal; it's that in Georgia people 50 miles away may well have similar shaking to someone in CA that is 5 miles away from a 4.9.
The whole Appalachians seems to have Magnitude 3-5 earthquakes off and on...this isn't a common area for those, but there have been a few small earthquakes scattered around there. Another place that has a lot of these is Southeastern Pennsylvania. Lots of old ancient faults from the various buildings of the Appalachians, and the continent DOES build some stress from moving westward even though there's no continental boundary anywhere near.
I don't think there's any threat of quakes any larger in the immediate area.
This is too far from the New Madrid Seismic Zone to be connected to it.
It's also (apparently) too far from the Charleston Seismic Zone in South Carolina (which produced the Magnitude 7-ish quake that leveled the city in 1886).
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