Posts tagged ‘earthquakes’

History of Earthquakes In Northern Illinois

by , posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 11:38 am

So I just got done reassuring a friend that this was no doubt a freak incident and then I found this on the USGS website.

1909 Jun 26 14:42 5.1M Intensity VII
Aurora, Illinois ( 41.6N 88.1W )
This earthquake has been related to the La Salle anticline in the Illinois Basin. Many chimneys fell, a stove overturned, and gas line connections broke at Aurora, west of Chicago. Several chimneys were downed at Forreston, Naperville, Streator, Triumph, and Troy Grove, and one fell at Waukegan. Brick walls cracked at Bloomington, and sidewalks cracked and many chimneys were damaged at Freeport. At Platteville, Wis., about 130 km northwest of Chicago, an old building was cracked; houses were jostled out of plumb at Beloit, Wis., about 240 km northwest of Chicago. Felt from Missouri to Michigan and Minnesota to Indiana.

and this

1912 Jan 2 16:21 4.5M Intensity VI
Near Aurora, Freeport, Morris, and Yorkville, Illinois? ( 41.5N 88.5W )
The highest intensity was reported at those towns in Kane, Stephenson, Grundy, and Kendall Counties, respectively. Slight damage to chimneys was reported at Batavia and Geneva, Ill., north of Aurora, in Kane County. Two distinct shocks were observed at some places. The stronger shock also was felt in parts of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky (Fulton County), and Wisconsin.

Thos are both pretty damned close right here. The USGS calls the 1909 quake perhaps the strongest to ever occur in Illinois. Leaving me to wonder why I know quite a bit about the New Madrid fault, but have never heard of the LaSalle anticline in the Illinois Basin.

Share

Illinois Earthquake

by , posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 6:00 am

Not of the political variety. An actual earthquake. Something one just does not expect in Northern Illinois.

I was awake – went to sleep at a freakishly early hour last night, and woke up at about 3:45, and was at my computer, checking in on a few sites and on my e-mail, trying to decide whether to try to go back to sleep, glanced at the clock and it said 3:59 a.m. and thought, yeah, I really should try to go back to sleep, then BAM!

Really. BAM! Felt like the building was exploding – my first reaction was that the roof had collapsed under snow, but then the shaking continued, and I was just ready to go outside and see if the roof had collapsed or if something in the building exploded when my daughter called from Geneva – it woke her and the hubby and kids up.

My dog is still shaken, she’s right at my heel if I so much as go in the kitchen to make coffee.

USGS is saying epicenter four miles east of Sycamore, and since I’m in St. Charles, that’s pretty damned close.

UPDATE: Google map from USGS pinpointing epicenter, which I’d say offhand would most probably be in a cornfield, but yes, very near St. Charles.

Share