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Science News

Central U.S. Earthquake Info 120

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the rock-and-roll dept.
ronbo142 writes "The United States Geological Survey site has real time (or close to it) information on the now two significant events of the day. Check out their site to enter your experience and view other event specific information."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Central U.S. Earthquake Info More

Central U.S. Earthquake Info

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  • Click-through (Score:5, Informative)

    by saveth ( 416302 ) <cww.denterprises@org> on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:18PM (#23120596)
    With the supplied link, you need to click through to the Illinois data set.

    Or, just click this one: http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/cus/ [usgs.gov]

  • It woke me up (Score:3, Informative)

    by XxtraLarGe ( 551297 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:22PM (#23120654) Journal
    I woke up at about 5:40 to the bed vibrating a little bit. I live in south central Michigan near the Ohio/Indiana boarders. At first I thought the cat jumped up on the bed, but he didn't then I thought maybe my wife was shaking, but she was still. It sort of felt like the massaging neck pillow I have, but all over the bed. I got up and took a shower. My wife came down a little later and I said "I think we had an Earthquake." She told me I was crazy, then she saw it in the news a little later in the day, and sent me a link for the USGS. I filled out my info earlier this morning.

    • Oh noes we'll be Yellowstowned! (Score:5, Funny)

      by FatSean ( 18753 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:28PM (#23120746) Homepage Journal
      That giant ring of fire is on it's way, just like TV predicted!
    • I woke up at about 5:40 to the bed vibrating a little bit.

      So how much did the Magic Fingers attachment set you back?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by luder ( 923306 ) *

      At first I thought the cat jumped up on the bed, but he didn't then I thought maybe my wife was shaking, but she was still. [...] My wife came down a little later and I said "I think we had an Earthquake." She told me I was crazy, then she saw it in the news a little later in the day, and sent me a link for the USGS.

      Wooha, talk about imaginary girlfriends... Translation:

      At first I thought the cat jumped up on the bed, but he didn't then I thought maybe my sex doll was shaking, but she was still. [...] My man-pretending-to-be-a-woman-who-I-like-to-call-wife came online a little later and I wrote "I think we had an Earthquake." He said I was crazy, then he saw it in the news a little later in the day, and sent me a link for the USGS.

    • I live a bit north of you. There have been earthquakes here in the last couple decades, but they were all from over by Cleveland. It woke me up, as my bedroom mirror was periodically bumping the wall. I live near a lake and looked to see if there were ripples, but even in the reflections in the water, it was still. But the throbbing persisted. It had to be an earthquake. But in this area, that meant only 3 possibilities:
      1. A 5-er over by Cleveland
      2. A big one at the New Madrid
      3. An asteroid strike somewhere on t

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by aitikin ( 909209 )
      You just wanted to use the phrase "my wife" on slashdot, didn't you!?
  • My girlfriend claims her bed shook from the earthquake last night and woke her up... I couldn't break the truth that it was really me! (zing)
     
    Seriously though, it did wake her up and we live in Dayton, OH.
     
    (note: I know no one will believe me that a slashdot person has a girlfriend, but she is a civil engineering major, and thus also a geek)

    • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by urcreepyneighbor ( 1171755 )

      she is a civil engineering major, and thus also a geek
      You ass. ;)

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Gefion ( 1271090 )
      Actually I was thinking that my wife snuck up on me in the wee hours of the morning, so to speak.

      In my half-awake stupor, my little 3-year old daughter jumped into our bed with this crazy story about how monsters were in her room and had shaken her bed. Of course, I consoled her with the white lie that there aren't any monsters and only realized on my drive into work that she was not completely imagining the situation! Oh, well. Another less-than-perfect answer from Daddy.

    • See if she's heard this one. A mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and a civil engineer are discussing God. They all agree he must be an engineer, but what kind? They each present their case. The mechanical engineer says, "look at the human body, the perfection of the joints, bones and muscle. Obviously, God is a mechanical engineer." To which the electrical engineer counters, "But look at the human mind and nervous system! Surely God is an electrical engineer!" They both look at the civil engineer, w

  • Only one moderate quake and an aftershock (Score:5, Informative)

    by Somegeek ( 624100 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:24PM (#23120676)
    The summary makes it seem like there have been two different big quakes. In actuality there was a moderate 5.2 followed by what is apparently a 4.6 aftershock.
    • The summary is rather skimpy on details, but a 5.2 is, all things considered, fairly significant for the region, even if it would be a blip on the map on the coast. I've been in the midwest (ohio and illinois) my whole life and this is the first quake I've ever actually felt.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by jonadab ( 583620 )
      > The summary makes it seem like there have been two different big quakes.
      > In actuality there was a moderate 5.2 followed by what is apparently a 4.6 aftershock.

      In the midwest, a 4.6 is a pretty big quake. There aren't any fault lines in the area, so we don't often get much above a 3. 5.2 is record-books stuff, no fooling.

      We don't get hurricanes either. Our primary form of "natural disaster", in terms of frequency, is probably either ice storm or flood, though of course the first thing everybody t

      • In the midwest, a 4.6 is a pretty big quake. There aren't any fault lines in the area, so we don't often get much above a 3. 5.2 is record-books stuff, no fooling.

        There's at least one fault line in the midwest, the New Madrid Seismic Zone [wikipedia.org].

        Falcon

  • "two significant events" (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The submitter is talking about two earthquakes [nytimes.com] today in the US.

  • I slept right through it (Score:3, Funny)

    by Cro Magnon ( 467622 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:32PM (#23120784) Homepage Journal
    Which proves what I already suspected. My snoring is worse than an earthquake!
  • I live just west of St Louis. My kids showed up in the doorway while the first one was happening. The news didn't bother to report it until almost 20 min later. The second one happened while I was sitting at my desk at work. The crap on one of our bookcases started to rattle. USGS shows the 2 that I felt and a bunch that didn't seem to make it all the way.

    Sort of brought me back to the days I lived in Bremerton WA.

  • I Survived the Great Quake of 2008 (Score:3, Informative)

    by dunezone ( 899268 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:36PM (#23120834) Journal
    I actually live 30 minutes outside of Chicago in the Joliet area. It was definitely one of those "WTF" moments, you didn't think earthquake because most of them out here go unnoticed and it was such a gentle rocking back and forth. There have been several aftershocks since the first one early in the morning. My roommate said around 11pm central time there was nice aftershock.

    PS, I honestly thought there was a monster under my bed last night during the initial shake.

    • My roommate said around 11pm central time there was nice aftershock.

      It was actually at around 11AM EDT (10AM local time at the epicenter). I am in indianapolis, and the morning one I thought the dog was having a bad dream and shaking the bed. I didn't know it was an earthquake until I logged in and went to google news.

      The large aftershock happened while I was at work, and it was amusing seeing the heads slowly pop out of the cubical farm one by one like gophers from their burrows while it was happening.

    • I honestly thought there was a monster under my bed last night during the initial shake.

      The last time I experienced an earthquake was, oh, 25 or so years ago in Montreal while I was in a bank guy's office co-signing a loan. Both parties on either side of the desk thought the other party had a "nervous leg" and was vibrating the desk. No recoverable coins fell out of the banker, unfortunately, but the loan went through.

  • When will people listen? (Score:5, Funny)

    by peipas ( 809350 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:38PM (#23120854)
    I've been saying all along, it's only a matter of time before the entire state of Illinois slides into Lake Michigan.

  • So I guess this makes Iben Browning [showme.net] right!



    17 years late. And off by a magnitude of 3.



  • is it? Why the fuss? Was it not 5.2?

    • Re:5.2 is not a big quake (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Kelson ( 129150 ) * on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:49PM (#23120984) Homepage Journal
      I'll admit, my first thought as a lifelong Californian was, "What, only 5.2?"

      Of course, when we get half an inch of rain here, the TV starts blathering about STORMWATCH 2008. It's all about what's typical for the region.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by IorDMUX ( 870522 )
        Agreed.

        I just moved to Columbus from Cleveland, a whole 140 miles south... now, suddenly, when six inches of snow hits, they declare it the "Blizzard of '08" and shut down the city. *sigh*

        I used to walk to school in that much snow.

        Uphill.

        Both ways.
        • That's because everybody's gone soft. Hell, I grew up in Columbus and I walked to school in a foot of snow! We didn't shut down the city in '78 when the coal froze, by golly. These wussy little punks today shut down everything if a couple of inches ... I don't care if it's time for my medicine, I'm lecturing the punks. In my day ... no, I don't want to go back to my room. No, I've got my walker. Sigh.
          Punk.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Sciros ( 986030 )
          Cleveland's weather IS terrible, though. I live in Columbus and the only thing that can convince me to drive up there is Steve Nash playing vs. LeBron. ^^

          But yeah, it's all about what people are used to. I lived in the UK a bit and when weather dropped to around freezing the response was a lot like what it is here when it's 20 below.
      • Yeah...I've slept through bigger quakes.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mikael ( 484 )
        I've seen people trying to drive in the rain when the road surface is wet and visibilty is reduced - they drive at exactly the same speed as they would when the road is dry and visibility is at it's best.
        • That's probably because they'd like to drive MUCH faster on the dry clear day, but are held back by the speed limits posted, and fear of massive tickets.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by mikael ( 484 )
            But they end up pranging their cars into electricity poles, T-boning at intersections and tailgating into the car in front.

            Still, it's cheap material for reality TV shows.
    • Because a 5.2 magnitude earthquake in the Midwest is the equivalent of California sliding into the Pacific Ocean for said residents. It makes for one crazy day where no one gets any work done on the job.

      • It makes for one crazy day where no one gets any work done on the job.
        Sounds like a typical day at my office.

    • Re:5.2 is not a big quake (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Thumper_SVX ( 239525 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:58PM (#23121106) Homepage
      Becuase although on the global scale it's pretty small, on the local scale of Southern Illinois it's a doozy. I live in St. Louis, and for many of my peers (being in my mid 30's) it's the first quake that's been felt in living memory. Sure there have been smaller magnitude 2 or 3 quakes, but the last 5.x quake in the area was in 1968... before I was even born. Granted, I'm not a St. Louis native, either.

      I have to admit though, the first one I probably would have slept through had it not been for my wife panicking and connecting her elbow with my face, but the second I felt as I was sitting at my desk at work and watched my monitors wobble back and forth. The second I could've easily mistaken for a large convoy of trucks going past the office if only our office was on a bridge over the highway. The first, once I was standing up (thanks to the expedient of body parts) was enough to shake the entire house and toppled a table lamp. Other than that at first my rather groggy brain started to wonder if it was just something freaky happening with my house until I opened the back door to let my dog out and heard what sounded like a rioting zoo in the woods behind my house. Then I knew it was a quake, and then it was just a matter of going to USGS website and seeing what the magnitude was.

      Really quite an odd experience. Although they talk a lot about the New Madrid fault and how an earthquake of 7+ magnitude is overdue, you don't really think about it much until a quake really hits. On the bright side, maybe this mornings tremors will make people think more about earthquakes and the effect they can have.

      5.2 is a big quake to those who've never felt one before. My personal high is a 6.8 but that wasn't in St. Louis, either :)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Zadaz ( 950521 )
        Yes, most people's first 5.0+ is memorable. But looking at the "did you feel it" map is just silly. There are people reporting intensity VI (Strong) over a hundred miles from the epicenter. If you're more than 100 miles from a 5.x quake and you feel something moving you either a truck went by or you have gas.

        (If a Midwesterner wants to get back at a Californian for being pussies about earthquakes, all they have to do is mention tornados. Or even just thunderstorms. On a business trip to Milwaukee two c
        • It also has a lot to do with the way that earthquakes propagate in the region.

          Consider this map:
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NMSZ_Vergleich.jpg [wikipedia.org]

          I'm not saying that people who just experienced their first earthquake are going to be rational in their reporting. But the local geology makes a big difference.
          I live in Peoria, probably 200 miles away and the first woke me out of a sound sleep. Myself and my co-workers felt the aftershock later on.
          People in St. Louis (128 miles away from the epicenter accord

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Thumper_SVX ( 239525 )
          I agree with most of your comments, but the bit about being more than 100 miles from the epicenter and not feeling it... there I disagree.

          I live in St. Charles, 160 miles from the epicenter of this morning's quakes... as the crow flies. I definitely felt it both times, as did my wife and kids. As did a number of people as most of the neighborhood were up in pretty short order after the quake (I could see a number of TV's on, trying to watch the news). The timing was also too perfect to be coincidence, twice
        • I'm gonna echo what a couple other said that although it wasn't a big quake by some standards, it was big for us here in the silly, boring ol' Midwest. I live in Springfield, IL ( about 176 miles from the epicenter) but it shook my bed hard enough to wake me. I think the reason that quakes in the Midwest are felt over a larger area is because of the geography of the region. I might be wrong in this but I heard it's because this portion of the earth is older and a bit less cracked than say, out in Californi
        • Yes, most people's first 5.0+ is memorable. But looking at the "did you feel it" map is just silly. There are people reporting intensity VI (Strong) over a hundred miles from the epicenter. If you're more than 100 miles from a 5.x quake and you feel something moving you either a truck went by or you have gas.

          It should be mentioned that there are two different scales at play here. The VI reported above is on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, [wikipedia.org] which measures the intensity of a quake as reported by eyew

        • If a Midwesterner wants to get back at a Californian for being pussies about earthquakes, all they have to do is mention tornados. Or even just thunderstorms.

          Yea, growing up in Florida friends of mine and I had this saying, "You can tell a true Floridian from a transplant when a hurricane comes along. While the transplants throw their arms up in the air and scream 'let's get out of here' the Floridian says it's tyme to batten down the hatches.

          On a business trip to Milwaukee two clients from CA literal

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by suso ( 153703 ) *
      is it? Why the fuss? Was it not 5.2?

      While it might not be high on the scale, earthquakes from southern Illinois typically have a much wider effect than those in California. Its not uncommon for quakes here to be felt over 1000 miles away. The New Madrid Quake of 1812 was supposibly felt over 1 million square miles while the San Francisco 1906 quake was only felt over 6000 square miles. See this image [wikipedia.org]
      • Exactly, the bedrock under the central US is much harder than what is in California, I believe. That is why the waves get perpetuated for much farther distance. Hell, I slept through the first quake, but I felt the 2nd one and I live in Cedar Rapids, IA. That's a long ways away from the earthquakes.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by node 3 ( 115640 )
      5.2 is big enough to be widely felt, and to cause some minor damage, pretty much no matter where you live.

      Where do you live where 5.2 is of no significance? California? Oregon, Washington and Alaska all have earthquakes stronger than is even *possible* for the entire state of California, so don't go making a big deal about your next 8.0.

      And don't let's even bring up Yellowstone...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by treeves ( 963993 )
        I (OP) live in Oregon, but I've not experienced any strong quakes here, just a couple of 4 point somethings.

        I was about 3 years old when a strong earthquake hit So. California where I lived and I remember it.
        OK, I just looked it up 'cuz I was thinking it was 1969 but it was actually 1971 [usgs.gov], so I was four -- it was a 6.6. I lived in No. Hollywood.
        I liked this sentence about that quake: "The newly built, earthquake-resistant buildings at the Olive View Hospital in Sylmar were destroyed - four five-story wings p

      • Now that should be a big concern for people who worry about Global Warming. For those who don't know Yellowstone is a Supervolcano [solcomhouse.com] which when it erupts will emit more greenhouse gases than man can think of.

        Falcon

  • One of the largest in recent history. (Score:3, Informative)

    by suso ( 153703 ) * on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:41PM (#23120888) Journal
    Apparently this is the largest one in the Midwest since the magnitude 5.4 one in 1968 that was also in Southern Illinois.
  • ... maybe this is just a buildup to a bigger mega-quake as some of the wonderful reporters on CNN were suggesting. I mean really though, what are the odds of that hap
  • Reports state that the quake was felt as far away as Chicago. Speaking with everyone I work with, it was only felt by people who live in tall buildings above the 5th floor. I live on the ground floor of my building and didn't notice a thing.

  • Webicorders? (Score:4, Informative)

    by jd ( 1658 ) <imipakNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:47PM (#23120964) Homepage Journal
    In the Pacific Northwest, there are webicorders [washington.edu] - online seismographs for the volcanos and other potentially unstable regions. The major earthquake that caused the devastating 26 Dec (Boxing Day) tsunami a few years back showed up extremely clearly on these. The shockwaves were not just large enough to register, but large enough to show up as a massive feature. If those graphs are still online, they would make for good material in a basic course on geology.

    What I don't know is whether there is anything comparable in the areas affected by these central US tremors. A description of experiences is useful, but plenty of reports will have those. Those are easy to come by. Much rarer is actual raw data, actual hard information on the nature of the quake. A quantitative experience, rather than a qualitative one. There will be much more to the story than what could be felt or described through experience, and that "more" bit is the bit that seperates understanding from simply witnessing. The latter facilitates understanding but is not a substitute for it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tyger ( 126248 )
      Modern earthquake data is surprisingly easy to find [usgs.gov] online without much looking.

    • How about this one? [usgs.gov]

      HDIS stands for Hopedale, Illinois, a tiny town on the bluffs of the Illinois River north of Peoria. But apparently, they have a seismographic station. Weird.

      Also interesting to note is the absence of seismographic stations immediately around the New Madrid fault zone, here [usgs.gov]

      • Also interesting to note is the absence of seismographic stations immediately around the New Madrid fault zone, here [usgs.gov]

        Well, we can't have detailed information about any dangerous activity there possibly causing a panic, or maybe causing citizens to move away from the area and deprive businesses of workers and income, or $Deity-forbid, insist the government take actions to insist that building codes are updated and cost the construction and real-estate development industries money! Besides, it's jus

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jd ( 1658 )
        The webicorder you gave was most interesting. There was either a much smaller shock further away at the same time, or the two shocks travelled at different speeds. The gap between the smaller initial peak and the much larger second peak appears to increase with distance. Some of the stations are overlapping - I assume distance down is proportional to distance away, which would be a reasonable way to plot but it would be easier to read if they stretched the Y scale a little more, as it's hard for me to see i

        • There was either a much smaller shock further away at the same time, or the two shocks travelled at different speeds.
          Those would be the S and P waves [matter.org.uk].
          • I meant P and S waves :-)

          • Re: (Score:1, Redundant)

            by jd ( 1658 )
            Thanks for the link, it's much appreciated. Again, this is truly interesting stuff that would be hard to find if you don't know what to look for, rarely (if ever) gets referenced by media coverage, and is far better pointed out by a post such as yours (and covered by the website you linked to, which is nicely presented, making a distinct change from many accademic sites) than by trying to hunt through a textbook (most of which have a worse layout than the accademic websites I detest). This is good informati

  • In SPringfield, I slept through the 5.2, but .. (Score:3, Informative)

    by the_rajah ( 749499 ) * on Friday April 18, 2008 @01:56PM (#23121086) Homepage
    my wife was awake for the 5.2 and was at her computer working on a writing assignment. She immediately went to the USGS site to check out what had happened and then filed an online report there of where she was and what she experienced.

    I was awake and in my office for the 4.6 aftershock. It rattled some things, but nothing fell off shelves, etc. No panic, although I did have some thoughts about the 100+ year old brick wall of the adjoining building that forms one side of my office.
  • I didn't even hear about it until I got into work, otherwise I would have called in quake. (just like the bad old days)

  • Not a big deal (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Arcturax ( 454188 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @02:05PM (#23121190)
    Ground rumbled a bit, a few things fell over. This is nothing major so I don't know what the big deal is other than it's a slow news day. I remember there was a rumble in Ohio in '87 that got about this much attention. There was also a fun man made earthquake I witnessed in the Middletown, Ohio area in the late 90's. It was caused by an underground blast furnace explosion at AK Steel and other than the booming roar of the explosion, it felt like a real earthquake and sent stuff falling off shelves at the Meijer store I worked at several miles away and blew windows out in homes near the plant. Thankfully no one was hurt or killed at the plant that night.

    We have far more to worry about with industrial accidents, dangerous railroad crossings and crazy weather around here.
    • I was in Trenton (just west of Middletown) during that '87 earthquake and remember the sound of the house creaking just before we felt everything shift... and then it was over. There was no real shaking, just a feeling that everything moved a few inches to the side. It caused Cincinnati TV stations to go off the air for a few minutes but when they came back on they had calls pouring in.

    • Re:Not a big deal (Score:4, Informative)

      by AbsoluteXyro ( 1048620 ) on Friday April 18, 2008 @03:10PM (#23121972)
      While other threats like severe weather are much more imminent, I wouldn't write off the possibility of a major quake in the mid-US. Anywhere there are active faults, it isn't matter of if, but when. You should all at least have a basic understanding of what to do to protect yourself during a quake, and this little shake-up should serve as a reminder.

      • You should all at least have a basic understanding of what to do to protect yourself during a quake, and this little shake-up should serve as a reminder.

        I'll be sure and remember to sleep through the next one too :)

    • Industrial accidents cause local effects and the energy is dissipated very quickly as the total energy is (usually) very small when compared to a seismic event.

      However, seismic activity on the New Madrid fault line is a big deal because it is know for creating very high magnitude events >8.0 which in a seismically un-prepared area such as the central US, will be extremely devasting. As a structural engineer, I know that most of the buildings are not anywhere near the level they need to be at for se

    • Ground rumbled a bit, a few things fell over. This is nothing major so I don't know what the big deal is other than it's a slow news day.

      It wasn't a big deal for an earthquake from California on up to Alaska, but it's a big deal for the Midwest where it happened.

      Falcon
  • Here in Illinois, it woke me and my wife up. a couple of the cats were running around, the dog was howling. Book shelf rattled, but we're less then 100 miles from the epicenter. We went back to bed and got the kids up about 80 min later in the morning.

    Neither of them made my chimney fall, so its a good thing I guess.

    One of these days the Wabash and New Madrid faults are going to wake up and this whole area will be in a maze of chaos.
  • I'm currently in Kokomo, IN -- about 50 miles straight north of Indianapolis and about 180 miles northeast of the epicenter.

    It woke me up with moderate shaking, which lasted about 10 seconds. I remember thinking "that was a big damn truck that went by", and going back to sleep. It knocked pictures askew, but didn't cause any damage.

    It is, however, VERY SUSPICIOUS!

    The two nights prior to the earthquake there were UFO sightings and hundreds of 911 calls reporting large explosions in the air. The Air Force

  • New Madrid fault line (Score:4, Informative)

    by jonfr ( 888673 ) * on Friday April 18, 2008 @03:24PM (#23122166)
    The main earthquake and the aftershock are on an fault line known as the New Madrid fault line. This fault line is known for making earthquakes up to 8 on the ricther scale. Last time that did happen was in the 19th century.

    I am fairly sure that this event now is part of normal movement of the fault line, due to happen every 20 to 50 years.

    People in the area should expect aftershocks in the next one or two weeks, maybe longer. Btu the aftershock pattern depends on many factors that I don't know all.

    For those interested the waveform of the earthquake was recorded by people interested in recording earthquakes in nearby states. The plots can be seen here, http://www.simnet.is/jonfr500/earthquake/othersten.htm [simnet.is]

    But I have collected them into one nice web page. The data is near real time and is updated every 5 min, at least that is the case for most of the plots

    • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It was actually the Wabash Valley seismic zone.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_Valley_Fault_System
  • The shaking woke me up. At first I thought the upstairs neighbors were being obnoxious again. The misses thought it was a ghost. Then our heads cleared and we realized, "Earthquake!"

    Our first thought was that animals are supposed to behave strangely during earthquakes, or after them, or before them, some time around earthquakes. It was 4:40 in the morning so we were hazy on the specifics. Anyway, eager to experiment we leaped out of bed and ran into the front room to where our cat Geoffrey sleeps on the c

  • 15 mile north of Indianapolis - I work nights, and was just, literally, flopping into bed when it hit - I was kind of going "I didn't hit the bed *that* hard when my mother (My name is on the mortgage - my mother lives with me dammit!) knocked on the door really concerned about what the heck *that* was. We thought it might have been a large truck or something.

    Didn't find out about the quake till this afternoon, although I'm fairly sure I got woke up by an aftershock.
  • Those USGS maps would be even cooler if they were just a layer in Google Maps or Google Earth. Then I could correlate them to all kinds of other local data, share them with other people, insert 3D buildings designed to handle the shocks...

  • Anyone else here remember the '70s [wikipedia.org]? Huh? Anyone? Hello?


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