3.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Kentucky

Shortly after midnight this morning, a 3.5 magnitude earthquake impacted the Bluegrass State. According to the latest information from earthquakes.usgs.gov, the quake occurred ~9 miles NNW of La Center, KY, located right along the Kentucky/Illinois state line.

Thanks in large part to the location of the epicenter, the shaking was reportedly felt across SIX states! Those included Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. The map above helps illustrate exactly where the quake occurred, with the image below indicating the time of occurrence just after 12 AM.

The following is an image providing a nice illustration of where the earthquake was most intense. It appears those along/south of the centralized location felt the most significant wobbling from this particular event.

According to earthquakes.usgs.gov…

The New Madrid seismic zone of southeast Missouri and adjacent States is the most seismically active in North America east of the Rockies. During the winter of 1811-1812 three very large earthquakes devastated the area and were felt throughout most of the Nation. They occurred a few weeks apart on December 16, January 23, and February 7.

Hundreds of aftershocks, some severely damaging by themselves, continued for years. Prehistoric earthquakes similar in size to those of 1811-1812 occurred in the middle 1400’s and around 900 A.D. Strong, damaging earthquakes struck the southwestern end of the seismic zone near Marked Tree, Arkansas in 1843 (magnitude 6.3), and the northeastern end near Charleston, Missouri in 1895 (magnitude 6.6). Since 1900, moderately damaging earthquakes have struck the seismic zone every few decades. About twice a year people feel still smaller earthquakes that do not cause damage.

Earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S. are typically felt over a much broader region than in the western U.S. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast. A magnitude 4.0 eastern U.S. earthquake typically can be felt at many places as far as 100 km (60 mi) from where it occurred, and it infrequently causes damage near its source. A magnitude 5.5 eastern U.S. earthquake usually can be felt as far as 500 km (300 mi) from where it occurred, and sometimes causes damage as far away as 40 km (25 mi).

There is often chatter regarding the New Madrid seismic zone being “overdue” for a major earthquake. Here’s to hoping this isn’t a sign of more things to come. For more information on this earthquake, you can find it here.