Friday, April 18, 2008

5.2 Earthquake? Ya, I slept though it.


Ya, I guess I missed it (I live in the Quad Cities right now, above the "LL" in the picture to the left). This earthquake (a 5.2 the USGS reports)
was in the Wabash Seismic Zone (not the New Madrid seismic zone, my bad - thanks to Erica for pointing that out). And I have to sleep though it (*see update below). Bummer. Its probably a good thing though. I do not like earthquakes. Kelty knew something was up though and was acting weird all morning (I thought she just wanted attention).

"The quake was centered 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Bellmont, Illinois, in the southeastern part of the state along the Indiana border and near Kentucky, according to the U.S. Geological Survey....The quake struck at a shallow depth of 7.2 miles (11.5 km), according to the USGS. The agency initially said the quake had a magnitude of 5.4 but later verified it at 5.2." [link]

It was reported at 4:37am southeast of where I am living right now in the quad cities, although I guess folks here felt it. There were two aftershocks, a 2.6 and a 2.5. I missed those too. "The strongest earthquake recorded in Illinois was in 1968, a 5.3-magnitude temblor centered near Dale in Hamilton County, about 75 miles southeast of St. Louis, according to the USGS." Thats not far off from what we had today, but they had damage back then (sounds like it was very minimal this morning)."

"The last earthquake in the region to approach the severity of Friday's temblor was a 5.0 magnitude quake that shook a nearby area in 2002, Baldwin said." [link]

I think I am suffering from lack of tornado season/spring destruction. Its like missing Christmas or Easter - feels like I am living in a different country or on a different planet this time of year. My space time continuum has been interrupted.

*UPDATE: After reading Sciencewomans post I had a memory come back to me of sometime this morning (on idea *what* time), I sat straight up in bead, thew off the covers and all of a sudden felt the need to *be* somewhere (no idea where though). All I remember is going "Oh, its not time to get up get" and going back to sleep, but I can't help but wonder if the quake or an aftershock (or just Kelty) got to my subconscious.....

5 comments:

Mike Keesey said...

My space time continuum has been interrupted.

Try living in L.A.! It's pretty much the same season, year-round. (Okay, it's a bit cooler and rainier in February and sometimes it's hot for a couple months in the summer. But the foliage never changes at all!)

ReBecca Hunt-Foster said...

ya, I would find that disturbing also! Like living in the land of OZ and never getting back to Kansas!

Anonymous said...

I live in Michigan where earthquakes are monstrously rare. Thank goodness I don't live in California where the big one is said to happen.

BTW: My Dinosaurs and The Bible A Creationist's Fantasy has just move to a new address. You may want to update your blogroll on this one.

Amanda said...

We had one in Vermont (weird!!???!!!) a few years ago. Well, technically it was in New York, but the epicenter was just across the lake (Lake Champlain). It was a 5.1. Pretty crazy! It was early in the morning and it woke me up. I had no idea what was happening...

That stuff doesn't happen much around here, so it's pretty memorable when it does.

If it makes you feel better, my little brother slept through it, too, and he was on the top of a bunk bed that was slamming against the wall repeatedly :)

ReBecca Hunt-Foster said...

Weird!!

Glad to hear I am not the only one who sleeps through them. So far I have heard about 50/50 here on folks who slept through it and folks who woke up.