Earthquake in Alabama, USA

Well, it happened in Ft. Payne, Alabama and my wife woke me up at 04:30 or so. "Did you hear that rumble?" I did not. She also said the house shook. I live 150 miles from the quake center where they had a 4.5 reading. They are somewhat rare in north Alabama. It was reported to be felt in Atlanta, GA and also in Tennessee and Kentucky. There are no damage reports as of yet.
Crap /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif I missed it.

Just saw that notification on my email...not a "regular" event down there eh?!

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake IN ALABAMA has occurred at:
34.55N 85.50W Depth 5km Tue Apr 29
Time: Universal Time (UTC) Tue Apr 29 08:59:36 2003
Time Near Epicenter Tue Apr 29 03:59:36 2003
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Tue Apr 29 04:59:36 2003
Central Daylight Time (CDT) Tue Apr 29 03:59:36 2003
Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) Tue Apr 29 02:59:36 2003
Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) Tue Apr 29 01:59:36 2003
Alaska Daylight Time (ADT) Tue Apr 29 00:59:36 2003
Hawaii Standard Time (HST) Mon Apr 28 22:59:36 2003

Location with respect to nearby cities:
25 km (15 miles) ENE of Fort Payne, Alabama (pop 12,000)
45 km (30 miles) NW of Rome, Georgia (pop 34,000)
50 km (30 miles) ESE of Scottsboro, Alabama (pop 14,000)
255 km (155 miles) NNE of MONTGOMERY, Alabama

[ QUOTE ]
Sigman said:
Just saw that notification on my email...not a "regular" event down there eh?!

[/ QUOTE ]Not in the least. I have lived in the southeast states for 52 years and have never had the earth move for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It just shows you that the phrase "seismically stable" is a contradition of terms.

Dan

You aren't supposed to get those things down there! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
Western California, western Oregon, western Washington, and southern Alaska are supposed to. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

At least no flashlights became broken in the Alabama earthquake. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

The Wasach Fault runs through Salt Lake City, Utah. The New Madrid Rift Zone, which is mostly inactive, may extend down to Alabama. There are faults on the east coast. The St. Lawrence Fault is defined by that river, and I think it may connect (or used to) to the New Madrid Rift Zone (through Ohio).

So, you can see faulting and seismic activity are not limited to the west coast States and Alaska. It is much rarer in the east though.

I get the Bigquake emailing as well.

I remember sometime in the mid eighties we had one in the Chicago Area. I was naping on the couch after work and woke up when everything started to shake. Nothing major, just out of the ordinary.

No as bad as when we woud get sonic boomed in the sixties and seventies.

I know this isn't interesting, just trying out the new set-up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We had a 6.8 (formerly a 7.0) near Seattle a couple of years back. A lot of stuff became broken, but I don't believe anybody got killed.
It would have woken anybody up, regardless if they were sleeping in a couch or on a bed.

We've had a few earlier (while I lived here) but nothing quite like this. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Water was thrown out of toliet bowls and fishtanks, and some pipes, sinks, tubs, and toliets busted in the building (wrecking some ceiling tiles in the lobby) and part of the side facade on the outside came loose, but nobody was hurt.
Nothing that a little cleanup & rebuilding couldn't handle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

At only about 3 miles below the ground, it's a relatively minor quake to produce only a 4.5... At least these things aren't "regulars", like the West has 'em.

I'd hate to see what would happen if the magma chamber under Yellowstone went haywire...

[ QUOTE ]
FalconFX said:
I'd hate to see what would happen if the magma chamber under Yellowstone went haywire...

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm guessing about half of the US would get hosed. Not to mention a good portion of southern Canada. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

my wife is from fort payne. her mom called this morning and told us about it. they said most of the same stuff as the people on the news - very loud, pictures fell off wall, nothing too bad.
they have earthquake insurance but only had about $3 worth of stuff break.
Praise God everyone is fine.

From what I've read about yellowstone it's a mega chamber and if it goes up that would pretty much be the end of all of us. We're talking nuclear winter or something similar.

That being said, I still really want to visit there and see the place. It looks amazing! I suppose I have a good chance of getting out before it goes up.

[ QUOTE ]
FalconFX said:I'd hate to see what would happen if the magma chamber under Yellowstone went haywire...

[/ QUOTE ]
--------------------
Get out the weenies, marshmallows, chocolate, & graham crackers! (Oh and extra toilet paper, cause there's going to have to be a "cleanup"!)

Hey man, I told you guys that carp said the world was coming to an end next year! This is just the beginning!

Would a carp just lie about something like that? I mean, you're the second fish in the world to speak, and you're gonna tell a lie? Come on! The fish has spoken!

I'm glad I'm on my way to Southern California, where I'm safe from this kind of thing. Whew!

[ QUOTE ]
James S said:
From what I've read about yellowstone it's a mega chamber and if it goes up that would pretty much be the end of all of us. We're talking nuclear winter or something similar.

That being said, I still really want to visit there and see the place. It looks amazing! I suppose I have a good chance of getting out before it goes up.

[/ QUOTE ]

James and FalconFX,

I'm not knowledgeable about these "chambers". Could you explain briefly please?

Thanks,
Brightnorm

Brightnorm,

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/faqs5.html

In essense, there's a huge collection of hot, molten earth under Yellowstone National Park that's building pressure as we speak... The hotter it gets by being baked by pressure, the more unsettled the area is. A magma chamber is a collection of hot earth or lava...

I believe Yellowstone's still an active volcano...

News flash. The quake has been upgraded to a 4.9...Some peoples homes had nimor damage. It was reported that this quake is as strong as we get in this area. Thank goodness for that.

I saw it on the 10:00 news last night. Cracked walls and some busted dishes were shown, but nothing really major. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Back when I was living in Tokyo, quakes were fairly routine. Typically, only when stuff started falling did any one stop what they were doing and become concerned.