Glory
April 19th, 2008, 05:22 PM
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Scientists say they know far too little about Midwestern seismic zones like the one that rumbled to life under southern Illinois Friday morning, but some of what they do know is unnerving.
The fault zones beneath the Mississippi River Valley have produced some of the largest modern U.S. quakes east of the Rockies, a region covered with old buildings not built to withstand seismic activity.
And, when quakes happen, they're felt far and wide, their vibrations propagated over hundreds of miles of bedrock.
Friday's quake shook things up from Nebraska to Atlanta, rattling nerves but doing little damage and seriously hurting no one. It was a magnitude 5.2 temblor centered just outside West Salem in southeastern Illinois, a largely rural region of small towns that sit over the Wabash fault zone. The area has produced moderately strong quakes as recently as 2002.
Full story
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080419/D904T1DO0.html
The fault zones beneath the Mississippi River Valley have produced some of the largest modern U.S. quakes east of the Rockies, a region covered with old buildings not built to withstand seismic activity.
And, when quakes happen, they're felt far and wide, their vibrations propagated over hundreds of miles of bedrock.
Friday's quake shook things up from Nebraska to Atlanta, rattling nerves but doing little damage and seriously hurting no one. It was a magnitude 5.2 temblor centered just outside West Salem in southeastern Illinois, a largely rural region of small towns that sit over the Wabash fault zone. The area has produced moderately strong quakes as recently as 2002.
Full story
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080419/D904T1DO0.html