New Madrid Fault Cuts Loose with a 4.0 Quake

[Random]

DYERSBURG, Tenn. (AP) -- Some residents of northwestern Tennessee were jarred awake Thursday by a minor earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the temblor had a magnitude of 4 and was centered 10 miles north-northwest of Dyersburg, near Ridgely. The agency says the quake was about 15 1/2 kilometers below the surface.

Dyer County fire chief and emergency management agency director James Paul Medling said emergency agencies were flooded with telephone calls from anxious residents shortly after the 6:38 a.m. CDT event, but no one reported any damage.

"I was still in bed," Medling told The Associated Press. "I felt my house shake twice, my bed shook twice and I heard a big boom."

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Medling said he went outside and the water was swirling in his dog's water bucket.

The area where the quake was felt is in the New Madrid fault zone - a seismically active area that runs along the Mississippi River from New Madrid in the Missouri Bootheel to Marked Tree, Ark.

Scientists say a huge earthquake in 1811-1812 struck the area, causing the river to run backward for a time and creating Reelfoot Lake on the Tennessee-Kentucky border.

The Geological Survey also reported a very small quake in the region on Monday. The 1.6 magnitude temblor was centered five miles south of Manila, Ark., about 45 miles west-southwest of Dyersburg.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TN_EARTHQUAKE_TNOL-?SITE=TNJAC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Note:It shook my Behind out of bed

[Skookum]

So, where were you when the quake hit? Did you feel or hear it?

[Random]

I was in Bed Sook....And it was Powerful enough it woke BOTH me and my wife up out of the bed....I called my Grandfather just to make sure I was not wakeing up out of some CRAZY dream...I sent this story to George Maybe he will read it on air tonight....Especially sence he is currently on the Fault in St.Louis....He may not have it...I had a Hell of a time find this story.....BUT I guess no DAMAGE no BIG story...**shrugs**

[Gummer]

Wow I hope this isn't the start of the big shift. Where I work there's a fault line in the area that a major Federal Dam's built on. The Feds are just now undertaking a ten year multi-million dollar project to beef up the thing to withstand a 6.5. They've said it would "start with the New Madrid and work west"... :eek5:

[Shecoda]

I was in Bed Sook....And it was Powerful enough it woke BOTH me and my wife up out of the bed....I called my Grandfather just to make sure I was not wakeing up out of some CRAZY dream...I sent this story to George Maybe he will read it on air tonight....Especially sence he is currently on the Fault in St.Louis....He may not have it...I had a Hell of a time find this story.....BUT I guess no DAMAGE no BIG story...**shrugs**


Aw come on Random, that is just a baby quake. I have been in a 6.5, a 6.9, and a 7.4 as well as many smaller quakes in the lower 6 and 5 and below range.

Still it is something to feel your first earthquake isn't it? The stunning realization that you are no longer in charge is something else.

In the case of the above quakes, I felt every 3.0 and above aftershock.

To see your quake and any aftershocks:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

[Random]

Coda

Hey its MY first big quake i am not from CALIFORNIA Quakes that register or are actually FELT are few and far between.....My wife said a man on TV said this could be the START of larger quakes around here

[Sean]

Nothing to do with the subject but i just noticed Random that the temp where you are and mine are exactly the same.

I have felt a 4.0 here and it is a wierd feeling. It also depends on how long it lasts.

[Maverick]

It is scary, especially if you never felt one before. About 8 or 9 years ago here in Toronto we got a minor quake or aftershock with the epi-centre somewhere near Quebec City. My husband thought I was up to one of my usual pranks and accused me of shaking the sofa he was sitting on. I told him I wasn't anywhere near the sofa. I went into the bedroom and the clothes in our closet were swaying back and forth. Seeing that just made the hairs on my arm stand up.

[Shecoda]

Random:Hey its MY first big quake i am not from CALIFORNIA Quakes that register or are actually FELT are few and far between.....My wife said a man on TV said this could be the START of larger quakes around here


Still it is something to feel your first earthquake isn't it? The stunning realization that you are no longer in charge is something else.

I agreed with you. It is something to feel that energy and know that you can't control it.

I think you felt something incredible Random. Many people didn't feel it, or it didn't register on their consciousness.

There is something else that wasn't spoken about regarding your quake.

Our rocks are younger and more elastic. Quakes aren't felt over the wide area they are felt back east in older more static rocks, and bedrocks. The energy doesn't spread as quickly here as it does in older more brittle areas. In other words, quakes in your locality are felt over a much wider area than our quakes. The last decent quake in your area recorded all the way into nuclear power plants in Michigan and Minnesota. Our quakes barely register in Arizona and Nevada.

Congratulations, Random, you are now in an elite group for the area of the country that you are in. It was a weird feeling, wasn't it? One you won't probably forget anytime soon. Hopefully this is the end for a long time for your area.

[maryals]

For a number of years, Visionaries and Scientists hve been keeping a close watch on The New Madrid Fault.

I don't think we fully appreciate what "The Boxing Day Quake" in Sumatra did to this Planet.

Anyway, welcome to the Club :yup: I felt my first Quake in Panama. Wierd Feeling more than scary.

MaryAlice can we have a "coffee smilie"?

[Skookum]

MaryAlice can we have a "coffee smilie"?

http://community.the-underdogs.org/smiley/misc/gmorning.gif
.
http://techhelpers.net/e4u/drink/trink25.gif
.

http://techhelpers.net/e4u/drink/trink33.gif
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http://techhelpers.net/e4u/drink/trink32.gif

[Sean]

Hey wait a minute. That last one is not coffee.

[Skookum]

Just pretend? :biglaugh: