Earthquake impacts parts of Wisconsin

That's right you read the title correctly. An earthquake in eastern Illinois was felt as far north as Milwaukee. The quake was one of the strongest ever in Illinois and it occurred shortly after 4:30 a.m. this morning, just 6 miles west of West Salem, Illinois. The earthquake measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale, just shy of the largest earthquake ever recorded in Illinois which took place in 1968 and measured 5.3. To give you some perspective about what these numbers mean, if the Richter Magnitudes are between 5.4 and 6.0, slight damage can occur to well-designed buildings while major damage can occur to poorly constructed buildings. The damage associated with today's quake falls right into this category. Just 15 miles from West Salem, calls were taken reporting objects being knocked off shelves and walls and building damage was reported in Kentucky. Perhaps one of the most notable impacts were skyscrapers shaking in downtown Chicago. The earthquake lasted around 20 seconds and caused cracked windows in parts of Indiana and was felt in Michigan and as far south as Atlanta. The quake was triggered by the New Madrid fault which lies over southeast Missouri and southwest Illinois. It is the country's most active seismic zone west of the Rockies and produces numerous small quakes a year, most of which are to small to be felt by the public. The same fault produced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in both 1811 and 1812, which were strong enough to cause the Mississippi River to run the opposite way for a few minutes. Below is some video from Good Morning America which will give you some insight as to where West Salem, IL is and what the impacts of the earthquake were.

 

Until Next Time,

Andrew Thut
News 19 Forecast Team

Comments

[Mike Smith]

I felt the quake. It wasnt that strong, but it still was something I had never felt before. I thought this kind of thing only happened in California!! Thanks for being there with the news!