Filed under: Earthquake, Predictions, Preparedness, Science, Society, Survival
You may have heard of the 5.2 quake we had in this area this morning (epicenter about 150 miles from here, I’d guess). I missed that, what with being sound asleep and all. Got people rattled, you might say.
Well, we just had an aftershock here about 45 minutes ago. I was writing an email to a friend at the time, said this:
I think we just had another post-quake shock. Whole house vibrated, and my monitor did a little dance.
Hmm. Should check the USGS and see if they have anything posted yet.
Nope. But I filed a report.
Well, the report is now up: a 4.5 event, according to IRIS. Interesting. That may be the most powerful one I’ve felt.
Lots of people don’t think of the Midwest as being particularly active, seismically (and otherwise). But we’re probably sitting on top of one of the biggest potential disasters when it comes to likely earthquakes: the New Madrid Fault. Hereabouts, people actually worry about this from time to time, though not nearly enough in terms of applying architectural and engineering knowledge to minimize risk. Because that would cost money.
Shocking, I know.
Jim Downey
