Morning quake-up call?
Podcast Episode
Janesville resident Mavis Marrero lives on Highway 51 South. She talks to WCLO's Steve Benton about her experience feeling the earthquake.
Podcast Episode
Janesville resident Karen Murdy lives on the west side. She talks to WCLO's Stan Stricker about her experience feeling the earthquake.
JANESVILLE — Mavis Marrero was sipping coffee this morning when her chair began to vibrate and dishes in her cupboards rattled.
“I thought, ‘Am I feeling this?’” the Janesville woman said.
“And then it happened again.”
Karen Murdy was jolted out of her Janesville bed when she felt the room shake.
A 5.4-magnitude earthquake centered about 290 miles south of Janesville near West Salem, Ill., rocked people up to 450 miles away just before 4:37 a.m. today, surprising residents unaccustomed to such a powerful Midwest temblor.
The sheriff’s departments in Rock, Walworth and Green counties all received reports from people who felt something this morning.
“It’s just a strange sensation because everything is just kind of shaking,” Murdy said. “You feel like you’re in the Twilight Zone.
“You don’t think of living in Wisconsin and having an earthquake.”
Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said earthquakes are infrequent in this area but not unknown.
She said this earthquake was felt so far away from the epicenter because of where it’s centered.
“There’s such a big difference between western and eastern,” Sigala said, referring to earthquakes that happen on either side of the Rocky Mountains.
If an earthquake of the same magnitude had happened in California, it wouldn’t have been felt as far away, she said, because the mountains keep the earthquake’s energy contained in a smaller area.
“But in the eastern part (of the country), you don’t have anything,” Sigala said. “The energy just goes everywhere.”
Although the magnitude of an earthquake measured by the Richter scale doesn’t change based on the distance from its epicenter, intensity does.
“People close to it are going to feel a higher intensity compared to people farther away,” Sigala said.
Intensity is measured on the modified Mercalli scale.
Near the epicenter of this earthquake, the intensity was about 6, Sigala said, “which means it was felt by pretty much everybody.”
People feel shaking and have difficulty standing. Windows and dishes break. Damage is slight to moderate in most buildings.
But in southern Wisconsin, the intensity was between 3 and 4, Sigala said, which means it was felt indoors. Hanging object swing back and forth. Windows and dishes rattle.
“It’s like a truck is passing by,” Sigala said.
The earthquake occurred in the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region, which covers parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas and stretches from Indianapolis and St. Louis to Memphis, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The USGS Web site indicates earthquakes occur irregularly in the area, and that the largest historical earthquake in the region—also a magnitude 5.4—caused damage in southern Illinois in 1968.
The Illinois basin-Ozark dome region borders the much more seismically active New Madrid seismic zone, according to the USGS Web site. In 1811 and 1812, the New Madrid fault produced a series of earthquakes estimated at magnitude 7.0 or greater.
Experts say another major New Madrid quake could destroy buildings, bridges, roads and other infrastructure and disrupt communications.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
Apr 20, 2008 at 10:35 p.m.
Suggest removal
ok now I didn't feel or hear anything, my son woke me though around 4:30 in the morning saying something was banging on his window, I didn't hear anything so I told him that it was ok and to go back to bed, now my boyfriend who was at work at the time said he was loading his truck when it shifted a bit and he thought he had just lost his footing, then found out it was an earthquake, lol nothing in my house was out of place, and my cat never moved.... never felt anything later in the day either I am kinda bummed I missed it
Apr 20, 2008 at 5:24 p.m.
Suggest removal
I was down in southern Illinois the day it happened, and it woke me up..I actually was not stunned, or anything, and knew it was an Earthquake..I was just praying it was not the "big one" that is widely predicted to strike the STL/Memphis area in the next 50 years....When it does hit, it will be much worse then "a few buildings and bridges" being taken out, that the article sites. All the estimations are a disaster far worse then Katrina, or any earthquake we have seen in the last century...The one that hit that area in 1812 literally changed the course of the Mississipi river, and could be felt all the way up into New england, while the after shocks continued on for weeks.
Apr 20, 2008 at 2:55 a.m.
Suggest removal
Was I the only one who felt what must have been an aftershock around lunchtime that day? Can't remember the exact time, but I was sitting at my puter, and my chair started jiggling. At first I thought maybe my cat was trying to sharpen his claws on the back of the chair, but I looked, and the cat was sleeping. I even looked out the window, thinking a semi was passing, but the window was open, and I saw nor heard any vehicles going by.
It wasn't til later that day when I heard it on the radio, that there had been an earthquake. So I thought, aha, I wasn't imagining it, until I read here what time the earthquake had happened. And I haven't seen any articles about after shocks, or anyone else posting that they felt something around lunchtime. Maybe I did imagine it, or maybe I got into the afore mentioned drugs and alcohol, in which case, that would also explain any spelling errors or grammatical errors that some people always seem to think is the topic at hand.
Apr 19, 2008 at 9:58 a.m.
Suggest removal
There will be a bigger one in the next 100 years in the midwest. At least that is what I have read in some scientific journals.
Apr 19, 2008 at 9:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
1919- Thanks for the laugh !!!
Apr 19, 2008 at 4 a.m.
Suggest removal
Hi all. My family lives right on the IL-MO border where the quake happened. I got a bunch of text messages/calls telling me about it. My sister felt the aftershock at work too, 11 stories up, with her coworkers. My brother was fishing and said the lake started bubbling up with the quake. I'm thinking "EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS" people!
Apr 18, 2008 at 10:31 p.m.
Suggest removal
woowww...nice that there can be related conversation on this board.
Apr 18, 2008 at 10:28 p.m.
Suggest removal
Whut, dare wuz and ertqwaake dis smornin wow man: Idident feal my door shakes at tall!
Apr 18, 2008 at 10:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
I didn't feel anything because I was sound asleep but I did notice a few things askew around my house, like pictures that were hanging crookedly. Maybe it was the earthquake!
Apr 18, 2008 at 7:49 p.m.
Suggest removal
sometimes in a earth quake it sounds like a loud motor cycle or a car with a very loud muffler.
Apr 18, 2008 at 6:54 p.m.
Suggest removal
slainte? go smoke some more dope. and if you want correct punction then go teach it in school ill write how ever i want if you dont like it to bad.
Apr 18, 2008 at 5:41 p.m.
Suggest removal
IMAZKID....
You hear windows shaking, you hear doors shaking....
And please try using some correct punctuation!
Apr 18, 2008 at 3:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
slainte ? First of all you dont know me and if you did then you would also know I dont drink or do any kind of drugs. and one more thing how do you HEAR shaking get a grip talk about being under some sort of substance
Apr 18, 2008 at 2:03 p.m.
Suggest removal
Maybe you were under the influence of a substance, then...perhaps still are, based upon your poor punctuation and grammer! I live on the east side and definately heard shaking.
Apr 18, 2008 at 1:28 p.m.
Suggest removal
I think your all crazy I was up @ 4am and i didnt feel anything. sounds like alot of well wishers out there to me and yes i live in Janesville on the south side
Apr 18, 2008 at 10:37 a.m.
Suggest removal
My doors were rattling this morning- I thought someone was breaking in!!
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.