Day 6 of Earthquake Watch


A-HA! Ok, so now I scare myself. A couple days after I had the Earthquake Dream, it appears that there was a small earthquake that was felt in Indana, the first one in a couple years:
Southern Illinois earthquake felt in southwestern Indiana

From West Layfayette, Indiana paper:

Clock is ticking
On Jan. 2, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake near Equality, Ill., was felt in the southern Indiana city of Evansville. It left more Hoosiers curious about how rumblings occur in a state where tornadoes are often the most feared natural disaster.

The Midwest is thus overdue for another large earthquake -- an event that could have disastrous consequences given the growth of cities such as St. Louis and Memphis, which are near the center of the New Madrid seismic zone.

Lafayette, which lies 350 miles north of the northern tip of the New Madrid zone, likely would be spared severe damage from a major New Madrid zone quake.

But closer to home, extending as far north as Vincennes, the Wabash Valley fault zone still produces minor earthquakes, such as the Jan. 2 temblor west of Evansville.

What's more, the Wabash Valley zone shows evidence of great earthquakes -- magnitude 7.0 or more -- in the prehistoric past. Those signs include "sand blows," or areas where sand was thrust up through the earth's crust and out onto the surrounding soil.

The figure shows the seismic activity of the Midwest. Here is the key:
VII. Damage negligible in buildings of good design and construction; slight to moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures; some chimneys broken.

VIII. Damage slight in specially designed structures; considerable damage in ordinary substantial buildings with partial collapse. Damage great in poorly built structures. Fall of chimneys, factory stacks, columns, monuments, walls. Heavy furniture overturned.

Perhaps the big one is still on the way........ stay tuned.

In other news, I won the playoffs football pool. Stealers went all the way, and I got $35.
- Doobs was 100% Correct @ 8:00 PM