BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: NightWing
Date: 28 Apr 08 - 11:58 PM

I was in Mexico City on 1979 March 14 when a 7.6 went off some 400 km (~250 mi) to the southwest. It's known as the "Petatlan" quake. I woke in my hotel room in the middle of the night to see a hanging lamp in the corner swinging in wild circles. I thought to myself, "May, they're gonna make me pay for breaking that!" Then I woke up some more and looked out the window. The brick building across the narrow street was waving sinuously back and forth toward my window.

At the time it seemed (as others have said) to go on forever. But later, the news said that it really was a long-lasting quake. (Thirty years later I can't recall HOW long that was. *G*)

Just over a year later (1980 July 27), I was in Cleveland when a 5.7 earthquake let go near Cincinnati. All my co-workers were excited about it, but I managed to sleep through it. (My day off :-)

BB,
NightWing

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: alanabit
Date: 28 Apr 08 - 07:14 AM

I recall an earthquake in the early nineties here in Cologne. It lasted a few seconds and sounded a bit like an oversized lorry was outside my window at 03:12. The epicentre was about a hundred miles away in Roermond.
Later that day, I was gigging in Pirmasens, when I heard how an American soldier had experienced the earthquake in Frankfurt.

"There I am, lying next to my wife and the whole bed is shaking - and I'm not having sex!"

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: John Hardly
Date: 27 Apr 08 - 07:56 AM

I'm 150-200 miles northeast of the center and it shook the ground here quite profoundly.

I heard a siesmologist interviewed who said that it was not part of the New Madrid. He said it's an entirely different and VERY undefined faultline.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Slag
Date: 27 Apr 08 - 04:33 AM

There now exists a line of at least four 3. somethings stretching from the Tom's Place/Mammoth Lakes area to the site of the big quake near Ely Nevada. The Reno/Truckee shaker would make it a triangle. This is really fascinating to see it develop!

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Ythanside
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 03:11 PM

In 1969 I was working in Gibralter and staying at a newly-built hotel in Sandy Bay, which lies at the foot of the water catchment area on the steep Eastern face of the Rock, facing into the Mediterranean.
At around 3 o'clock one morning in November or December I dreamt that I was standing in a railway station, and that an express train was approaching. The distant hint of a rumble rose to a quite deafening roar and the platform shook violently as the train hurtled by. In my dream I stood and watched it vanish into the night, and the dream was so real that I awoke and got out of bed.
When I opened the balcony door, intending to step outside for a breath of fresh air, a shower of stones and small pieces of concrete began to cascade down onto the roofs and balconies below. The 'rainfall', lasted for perhaps three or four minutes.
That was my one and only, and hopefully last ever, experience of an earth tremor, and where the epicentre was I have never been able to find out.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 09:30 AM

Thanks, Huw. I'm glad to hear that in the intervening years someone's looked into these matters. Now, if only good use could be made of them.

I've thought of other reasons why one minute's notice (sirens, TV, radio) would be helpful.

People could save data on computers.
People could put babies they are holding in a safe place.
People might be able to leave traffic and park their cars.
People could turn stoves off.
People could duck under gray metal desks.

====
My cat would not be a good diagnostician for earthquakes, because she starts at 'imaginary' threats quite often. At the vet's suggestion, we listened carefully and figured out that she is being frightened by sirens, no matter how distant.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: HuwG
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 12:33 AM

Leenia, there are a number of ways in which animals can behave unusually before earthquakes.

The obvious instance, of dogs barking etc a few seconds before an earthquake strikes, is related to the p-wave event, a compression wave which travels faster than the slower, larger, ground waves which are the ones generally felt and which do the damage.

A p-wave is often felt as a sharp blow, as if someone had dropped a heavy object. In a busy urban setting, it can often be mistaken for something like that. Dogs and other animals, with their lower-frequency aural threshold of hearing (i.e. they can hear lower notes than we can), hear a p-wave as thunder, and know it doesn't belong in the background noise.

In the case of shallow-focus earthquakes along transverse faults (such as the San Andreas), odd behaviour has often been reported weeks before large earthquakes. One possible cause is the small swarms of slight precursor earthquakes preceding the main event, which animals can hear (see above).

Another possibility is the increased emission of gasses from below ground as a result of dilatation (opening of fissures, cracks etc as rocks and joints fail under tension or torsion). This can be used as a predictive sign by measuring the concentration of Xenon in wells or groundwater. Xenon, being a short-lived radioactive gas derived from the radioactive decay of elements such as uranium or thorium in rocks, is detectable and measurable by geiger counter. With their more sensitive noses, dogs and other animals can smell other gasses which belong underground, go "pew" and also know that the smell doesn't belong.

There are other, less well-documented or explained phenomena such as birds flying in odd directions, cats starting at imaginary threats etc. I'm sure there's plenty of literature on these.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Art Thieme
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 06:39 PM

New Madrid quake--1812--The Mississippi River ran NORTH for 3 weeks afterwards. The steamboat Roosevelt rode most of it out on the lower river near Baton Rouge.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Slag
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 06:11 PM

In the past day there have been 182 earthquakes just north of Donner's Pass/Truckee in the Sierra Nevadas. The largest was a 4.2 which was preceded by a 4.1 just seconds before. There have been a couple of aftershock which have reached 3 or better. This is unusually activity for this location. Ever since that killer quake in Indonesia that spawned the tsunami there seems to be an increase in magnitude and locations that ordinarily do not see a lot of seismic activity. I realize that that is a non-scientific statement but it never hurts to be prepared. That's always good advice for anyone who lives in the west coast states.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 05:57 PM

The first quake I ever felt was in 1949. I think the epicenter that time was the Seattle area. During the 1960s the Pacific Northwest quite frequently shook a bit. I remember one evening when I was dressing for a date. Standing in front of the mirror doing my hair of a sudden I thought I was becoming ill. Took me a moment to realize that it was the mirror moving, not me.

They say that in Juneau we get on average a couple of tremors a day, but they are rarely strong enough to be felt. We've had mostly closed-door rattlers. So far as I know, all of them have originated approximately 100 miles farther north.

Even the big 1964 quake in the Anchorage area was not a big deal here. Anchorage is, by water, approximately 550 miles from here.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: mouldy
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 07:07 AM

When he was an adolescent, my son said he would love to be on the Pacific Rim when the ring of fire went off - the fool! Still, he now lives out that way...

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: GUEST,fossil in NZ (away from home)
Date: 25 Apr 08 - 02:05 AM

Have experienced a number of earthquakes since moving to NZ. Biggest one was a 5.6, enough to make me stagger as I was walking around in the shop. bit like a strong horizontal slide one way, then the other - different from the smaller quakes which seem to have an up-and-down movement. A lot of bottles rattles (I work in a pharmacy), but nothing fell down.

I would *not* like to experience anything bigger than this!

Neither, living as a I do in a wooden house built on a sand dune a scant 20 metres above mean sea-level, am I interested in seeing a tsunami at first hand, thank you very much!

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 24 Apr 08 - 11:41 PM

Thanks for the accounts of actual expereinces, Don and Slag.

Years ago I was in a geology class and I said that scientists should try to discover what animals (such as Don's dog) sense just before a quake. The response was a blast of cruel male laughter. However, I have heard enough stories to think that it's worth investigating.

People have pointed out that even a brief warning would be valuable to someone such as a surgeon in the midst of an operation.

I believe that the current opinion is that the safest place to be during an earthquake is under a piece of strong furniture. If I lived in an earthquake zone, I would buy one of those ugly metal desks like the government uses. Hard for a person to get out of wheelchair and under a desk, I know.

I believe it about 45 seconds seeming like an eternity.

Thanks for the link to the design made by the pendulum. It certainly shows the complexity of movement during a quake.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Apr 08 - 03:24 AM

Ebbie:

They said that in the midwest a quake has been felt as far as 1600 miles away. Did I misunderstand?

The New Madrid quake (wasn't that in about 1812?), for which the fault line is named, was reported to have physically "rang the bells" in church towers in Boston. My DeLorme route map shows that as about 1,300 highway miles, and with interstate roads it's pretty close to "as the bird flies."

The quake quite probably was "felt" - or at least "feelable" - for some considerable distance beyond that.

I don't believe you misunderstood.

John

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Apr 08 - 03:07 AM

Donuel

Full Moons - New Scientist reported that research.

However it did qualify the subset of quakes that fitted the pattern - mostly smaller ones.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Slag
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 06:10 PM

Don, you and Seattle are about as precariously perched as you could be. You also have a really hefty volcano in your backyard. Living dangerously there, you are! My cousin's husband is a geologist living in Port Angeles and he has told me lots about the situation up there. Wow!

I was also near the Coalinga quake in Central California, I think it was '79. Small town, I believe 1 died and small town that it was it lost two large buildings. I was with my brother-in-law on the bank of a canal about 30 miles away. We were shooting my new pistol at rocks on the other side. I suddenly felt a wave of nausea (rare for me) and I couldn't hold the gun steady. I said I thought I was getting sick and maybe we ought to go back home. He kind of looked at me with a funny expression and then suddenly I was OK. I raised the gun one more time and couldn't bring it on target. I said "Dick, something is really wrong! I think we may be having an earthquake!" He scoffed but just about then the secondary waves reached us and the water in the canal began to slosh back and forth, bank to bank a foot or better in height! I could just see us and my truck toppling into the water but then it began to subside. It IS a very humbling experience.

I check the USGS site every day and for what it's worth I try to understand the quake maps of California/Nevada. About a month or so ago I noted a big increase in the number of small quakes in Nevada. They usually show about 20 in any given week, all micro quakes for the most part. Then a 5.2 hit in Calexico in Baja and a series of large aftershock. Then another large quake hit a little farther to the south and west or a separate(?) fault. Activity really increased then. It got up to over 1000 quakes on the maps that generally show 400 to 500. That's when the big 7 something hit in Eastern Nevada. Now we have had a big one in the New Madrid area. I probably know just enough to alarm myself but the patterns and the current action is undeniable. Things are moving. There has been an increase in just about every fault field except that little stretch between about Santa Barbara to Parkfield along the San Andreas. I truly fear for when that part lets go as it has NOT move AT ALL for many years. Good luck to us all!

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Don Firth
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 03:25 PM

The first earthquake I ever experienced was when I was about 13 years old. Approaching 7:30 on a Monday evening, Johnnie Coogan, Tommy Gregory, and I, along with Mikey, Johnnie's cocker spaniel, were on our way to a nearby school for the regular Monday meeting of Boy Scout troop 150. Tommy and I had just met Johnnie in front of his house and were on our way to the school when Mikey went nuts. He alternated between running back and forth and barking and sort of cowering on the ground and whining. We stopped and tried to figure out what was wrong with Mikey. Just then, the ground started to shake. It lasted for maybe ten or twelve seconds. I don't recall the magnitude of the quake and I don't recall that it did all that much damage, but since it was my first, it was an experience. Obviously Mikey knew about it before we kids did!

I've rocked and rolled through a number of other quakes, a couple of which were real doozies, and slept through at least one. But the Nisqually quake at 10:54 a.m. on Wednesday, February 28, 2001, magnitude 6.8, really got my attention!

I was sitting in my home office poking away at the computer. I live in a first floor apartment in an old four-story brick and stone building (built circa 1910, historical status) when the whole building started to undulate. I knew right off what it was and prepared to hang tight and ride it out.

The first thing that happened was the lights went out and the computer died. Then my desk drawers started sliding in and out. I was sitting at the desk in my wheelchair, and I rolled myself back from the desk. It's a heavy limed oak L-shaped desk, nice and deep, and I have a couple of bookshelves sitting on the back of it. I didn't want to get buried in books if they toppled over. Fortunately, they managed to stay put.

The quakes I had been through before lasted maybe eight, ten, twelve seconds, which, short as that is, seems like an eternity when you're there. But this sucker really seemed to be going on forever! I had the very uncomfortable feeling that I was soon to get a four-story brick and stone building in my lap and figured that could smart a bit! There are a couple of steps at the front entrance, so I go in and out the side door of the building where there is a driveway. I thought it might be a good idea to get out of the building. But it occurred to me that as I was going down the driveway I could very well be subjected to a rain of bricks. I recalled hearing that positioning yourself in a doorframe is about the best protection, so I rolled out of my office, opened the front door of the apartment and sat there in the doorway, watching the large bowl-shaped chandelier in the front hall/lobby swing violently back and forth and had visions of rectangular walls and doorways becoming parallelograms, then springing back again to bend the other way. And the bloody thing was still going!!

It lasted for a total of about 45 seconds, and some reports say over a minute. That may not seem like much, but when you're sitting there heaving and surging back and forth, quite possibly in mortal danger, and you have no good options, you can begin wondering if it well ever end. Or if that will be the end of you!

When it finally rolled to a stop, I heard a couple of fellows coming down the stairs with flashlights. Most of the tenants were away at their jobs, but a few telecommute from home. They knew that I was home, and, bless their hearts, the first thing they did was to check to see that I was okay before they went on to inspect the building for damage (a couple of cracks in some brickwork, but no structural damage).

Seattle City Light got crews out and power was restored to our neighborhood in a remarkably short time. Less than an hour as I recall. Estimates of property damage ranged from 2 to 4 billion dollars (saw photos of cars parked downtown buried in bricks, and the capital building in Olympia was damaged pretty badly) and although no one was reported as being killed directly, one person died of a stress-related heart attack.

Barbara was working at the library at the time. The shelves themselves were pretty well anchored, but they did spend a lot of time the next few days reshelving books. Despite all the bouncing and jigging, the only thing that happened in our apartment was that a lamp jumped off a bookshelf, apparently bounced off a chair, and landed on the living room floor. Didn't break.

I may be some kind of sissy, but magnitude 6.8 was plenty for me, thank you! Geologists (sometimes rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation) keep saying that this area is long overdue for a magnitude 9, complete with tsunami out on the coast.
Vote NO on mag. 9+ Earthquake!Don Firth

P. S.   Interesting stuff:   The Earthquake Rose, earthquake art produced by the Nisqually quake ("The Rattle in Seattle"). And The New Madrid earthquake. This Wikipedia article is right up to date.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 11:48 AM

You couldn't be more right, Slag. When I say I'd like to feel an earthquake, I mean a small one.

Once in Milwaukee, there was a 3. I slept right through it, but would have liked to feel it. That's the kind of thing I mean.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Slag
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 12:02 AM

When I was young I thought "How cool to experience a really big quake". That's youth. We have earthquake insurance but can you imagine the hassle and all the things that are irreplaceable? Then when they cause injury and death... Brrrr! If I were out in the middle of the desert it might be a real ride to remember but not where I or anyone else lives. I was on the periphery of the Sylmar/Newhall quake in, I think it was '72, in southern California. That one took down the VA Hospital and several lives were lost. It shook me awake at about 6 AM. I have a good friend who lost her house in the Marina District in SF during the Loma Prieta which took down a section of the Bay Bridge and the decked freeway on the approach to the same. This is not fun.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: mouldy
Date: 21 Apr 08 - 02:37 PM

My son's now living in New Zealand, and much to his disgust, he keeps sleeping through them - even a 6.8 - although it was over on the south island. A fault line runs right by his house!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Slag
Date: 20 Apr 08 - 08:40 PM

I wouldn't doubt it if someone announced that the steam injection was the cause of so many micro quakes. Who knows. We look for cracks in the paint and tiles and hope that with so much shaking the pressures beneath are relieved. This area had only minor damage from the 1806 quake that devastated SF and Santa Rosa (110 and 60 miles south, respectively). Yup! The water heater is anchored and the nick knacks have "museum gel" holding them down.

The New Madrid situation is much scarier. You're right. The mechanism there is not well understood and the type of quake that has occurred in the past is the sort where the ground opens up and swallows things. The process of liquefaction in the layering causes "sand geysers" and quicksand situations. Ours are "slidey faults, kind of a north/south deal. New Madrid is up/down or maybe just down!

You can check with the USGS on line. They have general info about quake preparedness and they WILL answer your questions about your specific area and what additional precautions you should take.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 20 Apr 08 - 07:39 PM

Sound exciting, Slag. Is your water heat anchored and do you keep shoes by your bed? What's the general attitude towards quakes in your area?

In a way I would rather live where you live than in the New Madrid area. You understand why there are quakes and a certain amount of monitoring can be done - certainly with the volcano. In the New Madrid zone, there is no real understanding of what the mechanism is, so how can people know what to look out for?

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Slag
Date: 20 Apr 08 - 01:02 AM

A 5.2 WILL get your attention! Even here in California. I'm in a similar situation to Skarpi's as we have a "dormant" volcano in our backyard (10 miles away) and a geothermal industry just south of the volcano on the border between Sonoma and Lake County. Anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 of all California's earthquakes happen here, around 150 a week. Fortunately they are mostly micro quakes with a few 3's and 4's thrown in for fun. The one's around 5 are rare even here. I hope there wasn't too much damage and I am thankful that no one (as far as I know) was hurt.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 20 Apr 08 - 12:24 AM

Today's Kansas City Star had an article on the quake. We are 400 miles from the epicenter, and people were awakened by the quake and some were alarmed enough to call the police. I slept right through it. Heck! I would have liked to experience it.

Ebbie, I confess that 1600 miles seems pretty far. However, if the 1811 actually did ring the church bells in Boston, that may be the distance involved.

Although the New Madrid area was sparsely populated in 1811-12, the suffering of the people who were there was terrible. So extreme were the effects of the quakes that they can still be seen today. It is interesting to read about.

One effect of the quakes was the creation of Reelfoot Lake. Fifteen years ago we visited Reelfoot to birdwatch. It is a beautfiul and interesting place.

John in Kansas: the distance from Chicago to Milwaukee is immaterial. The figure of interest is the distance from tiny Mt. Carmel to Milwaukee. It must be impressive.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 08:55 PM

Most of them happen on full moons doncha know

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 06:35 PM

On the news the other night they explained that where there are fewer fault lines, as in the midwest, a quake tends to be felt farther afield, while on the US west coast with its many fault lines the effects tend to be more localized. They said that in the midwest a quake has been felt as far as 1600 miles away. Did I misunderstand?

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 04:48 PM

Good luck, Uncle Dave....you'll get people educated on that about the time *I* get them to discern between "insured" & "ensured"...or between "jibe" & "jive". (I am particularly grumpy about the 2nd set.)

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 04:34 PM

This is a good place to indulge in a bit of pedantry relating to one of my pet linguistic peeves:

"Epicenter" is used in the context of this event correctly, but many people misunderstand it and misuse it.

"Epicenter" does NOT mean "the center" or "the VERY center" or anything like that. It is a technical term in seismology, and it means the spot on the surface of the earth directly over the center of an earthquake, which may be thousands of feet, or even miles down in the earth's mass.

So PLEASE don't tell me that "Nashville is the epicenter of the country music business," or "The epicenter of the US movie business is Hollywood," or anything like that! Those may or may not be the centers of those activities, but not epicenters. Unless you think those industries are centered underground.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: skarpi
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 01:36 PM

5,2 then you should wait for more earthquakes from 3 to 4,5 on
Richter after shake .

we have earthquakes every day from 1 up to 4 :>)

I hope noone was hurt though . .


kv Skarpi Iceland

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Rasener
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 01:16 PM

Irene
I think you are on about in the UK - yes?

We were about a mile from the epicentre here in Market Rasen UK.
Although the report said Ludford was the point, is was in actual fact Osgoby.

Bit of a knee trembler :-)

http://www.marketrasenmail.co.uk/news/NEW-VIDEO-Massive-earthquake-hits.3818704.jp


So we in the UK shake hands with you and hope all is OK over there.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Irene M
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 12:13 PM

5.2?
We had one of those in Feb. Fair made the house dance.

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 11:16 AM

A few folks clear over here reported that a few dishes rattled but I find that a bit hard to believe.......possible though. The local news interviewed a woman out in the sticks by phone who had called and reported after seeing the news story. She said the dog barked and her china cabinet rattled for a second.   The reporter made the mistake of probing too long for something additional and the old girl says, "Mighta' been a truck goin' past. It was sorta' like that."

Hey....She was happy she'd felt an earthquake so I was too!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 10:41 AM

I was taken on a tour of the New Madrid area years ago....we stood on a road with about a 7 ft. embankment on one side. The guide explained that before the quake, the ground was level there!

"Whole lot 'o shakin' goin' on!"

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 04:20 AM

Wiki has a summary article on the New Madrid fault, which is reputed to be the "biggest" in the US (or sometimes the biggest east of the Rockies).

According to that article, neither Texas nor Kansas is included in the "hazard zone" for this fault, and major quakes along New Madrid historically have been no closer than every 300 to 500 years. Smaller "side branches" of the main plate boundaries may produce quakes more frequently; but they're not usually of major magnitude.

February 7, 1812 (the New Madrid Earthquake), 0945 UTC (4:45 a.m.); 7.9 magnitude; epicenter near New Madrid, Missouri. New Madrid was destroyed. At St. Louis, Missouri, many houses were damaged severely, and their chimneys were thrown down. The meizoseismal area was characterized by general ground warping, ejections, fissuring, severe landslides, and caving of stream banks.

John

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 01:59 AM

And here I thought that moving to the Midwest (Texas) from the West coast would make earthquakes a remote possibility. I live near the Balcones fault.

New Madrid--is that the one that Mark Twain wrote about? Backed up the Mississippi River?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 01:42 AM

Chicago to Milwaukee (center to center) is about 95 miles. Just over an hour driving time if the traffic isn't too thick.

The recent earthquake, according to reports I saw, was on a smaller "side branch" off the New Madrid; but the last big one on the main fault line, late in the past century as I recall, was near St Louis and rang the church bells in Boston - ~1,180 miles away. Reports nearer the center were that entire herds of Buffalo (Bison) were knocked off their feet. (A little more extreme than the ever-popular "cow tipping" exercise.) At the time, there were few building more than one or two stories tall near the center, so damage to "civilized objects" was probably minimal.

New Madrid is considered one of the most dangerous faults in the US, but in recent history (a few thousand years) apparently the main fault line has only slipped at about 1 or 2 hundred year intervals. (Since the data changes as new theories develop, I'm of course speaking in very general terms here, from prevous news reports a decade or two old.)

John

Subject: BS: you don't often get to see an earthquake
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Apr 08 - 12:06 AM

Mt Carmel Illinois endured an earthquake of 5.2 today. Not a catastrophe, but enough to cause real fear and damage. If I lived there, I would make sure my water heater was fastened down, that's for sure.

The Chicago Sun Times has an article on the net which contains a video showing the shaking. I don't know how long it will be available, but here's the link.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/902398,quake041808.article

I've never seen anything like that before, but I don't watch TV much.

The shaking was felt as far away as Milwaukee. I don't know how far that is, but it's a considerable distance. 200 miles, 400?

My husband thinks he felt it in Kansas City. He thought the cat jumped on the bed, then realized that the door was closed so the cat couldn't get it.

The weather man and the newspaper make light of the quake, but with bad luck, a 5.2 quake could do real damage - drop a heavy picture on your head, break pipes, or (as in the picture) knock off your porch. It's a good thing that woman wasn't on the porch when it collapsed.

I have never heard a convincing explanation of New Madrid earthquake phenomena. Let's hope the New Madrid monster is just rolling over in its sleep, not waking up.