EARTHQUAKE! Hit In Illinois!

Kelly · February 10, 2010, 09:43:05 AM

Just in case any of you heard about the earthquake hitting Illinois you heard right! My family and I are about 50 miles west of where it hit.I didn't know anything happened until I got up this morning!

Mike · February 10, 2010, 10:50:16 AM

I wondered about you Kelly. I definitely felt the big BOOM and the whole house shaking like it was going to take off and fly. My first thoughts were
a.   An explosion
b.   A cold weather microburst (don’t know if that is possible)
c.   Lightening striking the water tower a block away (we have had lightening during snow storms when the air is very dry)
d.   The freight coal train that came through town 5 minutes later hitting a car or maybe derailing and exploding
e.   An earthquake

cheryl186 · February 10, 2010, 11:21:22 AM

OH NO!! Terrible news.....I hope everyone is okay :xfinger:

Kelly · February 10, 2010, 11:36:43 AM

Quote from: Mike on February 10, 2010, 10:50:16 AM
I wondered about you Kelly. I definitely felt the big BOOM and the whole house shaking like it was going to take off and fly. My first thoughts were
a.   An explosion
b.   A cold weather microburst (don’t know if that is possible)
c.   Lightening striking the water tower a block away (we have had lightening during snow storms when the air is very dry)
d.   The freight coal train that came through town 5 minutes later hitting a car or maybe derailing and exploding
e.   An earthquake

Did it bother Clifford at all?

doxielady5569128 · February 10, 2010, 02:09:57 PM

How scary!!! I wouldn't have noticed had it happened here, we live about 1/4 mile from some railroad tracks and feel rumbles all the time from the trains.

Mike · February 10, 2010, 07:17:42 PM

Quote from: Kelly on February 10, 2010, 11:36:43 AM
Did it bother Clifford at all?

No, he woke me up 1/2 hr earlier to go out and have some early breakfast. He was fast asleep (lucky dog!!). Plus he doesn't hear much any more.

Madderoos Mom · February 10, 2010, 08:22:49 PM

I've heard that the fault in that area is very active and that in the early 1800's it produced a quake that made the San Francisco quake look dinky. Hope everyone rode it out okay. Like we say here in earthquake country (CA), we'll take an earthquake any day over a tornado.

Doxherding Karen · February 10, 2010, 09:10:18 PM

Quote from: Madderoos Mom on February 10, 2010, 08:22:49 PMLike we say here in earthquake country (CA), we'll take an earthquake any day over a tornado.

AMEN, SISTER!!

Earthquakes are egalitarian - we all have basically the same odds of living or dying, G-d forbid. A tornado can level your house and leave the house next door completely untouched. And Los Angeles learned in the 1932 earthquake that poor construction meant lives lost. The upgrade in building requirements kept many,many people from injury at least until the big Northridge earthquake in 1994.

And FYI - a richter scale 5 earthquake is twice as strong as a #4, a #6 is twice as strong as a #5 and a #7 is twice as strong as a #6. Haiti's quake was a #7, which is pretty huge. The Northridge quake was a 6.9 with 72 deaths, but the damage was much less in L.A. because of the stricter building codes. The biggest I lived through was a 6.6 quake which claimed the lives of 65 people.

Looking at all the death and destruction that took place in Haiti can break your heart.

Karen

Brekkesmom · February 12, 2010, 07:50:17 AM

As a native Missourian, I can attest to the power of the New Madrid Fault. It actually made the Mississippi River run backwards for three days back in ?1812?, and created Reelfoot Lake in Kentucky. Back in the early 60's, I remember being in church one Sunday morning when the fault hiccupped, and the hanging lights were swinging and it actually looked as if the brick walls of the church were inhaling and exhaling. My mom said at least we were in the right place!
Glad you're all okay!