Earthquake

[Destina Faroda]

Is everyone okay?  I head about this on the news and thought about the people who lived near the epicenter.  I hope no one got hurt.

[Cvstos]

I hear damage was light even near the epicenter.  I live near Chicago and I felt it.  I was really light, though.  I had no idea what it was.  It felt like my seat rocking a bit.  I thought it was me at first. 

[Tapewolf]

For those like me who were thinking 'Earthquake?' and finding nothing on the BBC:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/18/illinois.earthquake/index.html

[Brunhidden]

well yeah, i highly doubt european news will care at all. the only news from america people really eat up is when america screws something up and it feels good to laugh at


however, i AM kinda worried seeing as how the entire mississippi river is a fault line. its just been quiet for so many decades everyone kind of forgets about it.... if i recall  the last time it was really active the river flowed backwards

[Tapewolf]

well yeah, i highly doubt european news will care at all. the only news from america people really eat up is when america screws something up and it feels good to laugh at

Not really.  I wasn't expecting it to be front-page news, but there isn't anything about it on the 'Americas' section either.  Of course this might be because a 5.2 quake isn't very severe in the grand scheme of things.  Heck, we had a 5.2 one a couple of months ago - it broke a few chimneys and was noteworthy because they're rare here, but that was about it.

if i recall  the last time it was really active the river flowed backwards

Cool.  Well, probably quite frightening actually.  But still kind of cool in a way.

[Damaris]

We felt it here, in Indianapolis (although really, I slept through it).  The epicenter was about four hours from us.  Reportedly, the most damage was basically some crumbling- nothing serious.

[Brunhidden]

Of course this might be because a 5.2 quake isn't very severe in the grand scheme of things.

if i recall  the last time it was really active the river flowed backwards

Cool.  Well, probably quite frightening actually.  But still kind of cool in a way.

the severity isn't the concern, the freaky thing is its the middle of the great plains, where earthquakes haven't happened in centuries. think of it like suddenly a volcano erupts in Germany.


who knows, this could signal an era of the mississippi river fault becoming the new san andreas fault.... the ironic thing is most houses in the area of the midwest are MORE earthquake resistant then california homes, a side effect of some archatexture modifications we do for protection from cold weather and moisture.

[Feroluce]

5.2 isnt too bad. I live on the pacific ring of fire, so generally feel an earthquake every few months. the norm is 2-3.5, altho I remember a couple of years back we had one in the 5s. I remember because at the time I had a waterbed, and so when I woke up my first panic'd thought was "oh my god... I cant roll under the bed!" lol. Havent gotten anything bigger, altho the main fault in Cook Straight is supposed to be overdue for a good shakedown.

[Brunhidden]

update- people were in a panic here in Wisconsin after a traveler who happened to be in Chicago reported he could see the skyscrapers sway when it happened.

yeah, if Chicago and Milwaukee are threatened with collapse of all large buildings, quite possible if one hits further north or gets higher then a 6 or so,  half the Midwest is screwed

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... Skyscrapers are -supposed- to sway when earthquakes hit. It's how they don't break.

Contrast a tree in a gale versus a grass. The grass bends, the tree doesn't, so the tree breaks and the grass doesn't. That's the core idea.

Sheesh. Idiots.

[Brunhidden]

well the panic in question was amongst dairy farmers and toolmakers of central wisconsin, we don't have many tall buildings or earthquakes so its intimidating. the tallest building in the county is an abandoned leather factory that was converted into a four story apartment complex, my brother in law lives there. yes, four stories is as tall as we build, and thats almost always butted up against another building on each side resulting in a solid block of two to three and a half story buildings leaning against each other.

and it was not really fear for the buildings, its fear of 'this is how strong the quake was that it can visibly shake buildings this far away'. like i said, the whole river is a fault line, its fully possible one could hit fairly close to Chicago eventually and then we shall see some real chaos

[Damaris]

The "where earthquakes haven't happened in centuries" comment isn't terribly accurate.  The southern portion of Indiana has an earthquake about once every three years, for at least the last 10 years or so.  I personally was down there for two of them.  This is the largest one to hit in quite some time(they usually average in the 3s), but it's still not completely unheard of.  Actually, the whole area lies on a somewhat active fault line.

[Alondro]

New York City is in the worst danger.  The very poorly understood ancient fault system that lies there has produced some fairly strong quakes in the past, but they are very widely separated.  Many of New york's older buildings, and especially all those already dilapidated rowhomes, can't withstand the force of even a 6.