# Minor Earthquake in Eastern Kentucky. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032 "2005-06-20T12:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/1 "2005-06-20T12:46:42Z")
Within the last hour, a minor earthquake, Richter3 or thereabouts, occurred in Eastern Kentucky, almost exactly on top of the site of another quake, earlier this week. [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/36.38.-90.-88.html](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/36.38.-90.-88.html) Anybody feel it? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/2 "2005-06-20T12:51:01Z")
:smack: Western Kentucky. My error. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/3 "2005-06-20T13:02:57Z")
3.5 :rolleyes: Although I see it’s on New Madrid. Next big one that goes off there will be something to talk about. Anyone know when the next big New Madrid is due to go off? This one is about 1/10000th of the strength of something which should be worrying… and is probably just a minor rumble. I’d thnk new madrid is not something anyone needs to worry about in our lifetimes, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/4 "2005-06-20T14:33:33Z")
The earth is angry. She’s trying to tell us something. I think it’s “get offa me!”. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/5 "2005-06-20T15:09:45Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/36.38.-90.-88.html](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/36.38.-90.-88.html) I see that Cape Girardeau is within a few miles of the epicenter. Did Rush head for home this summer? ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/6 "2005-06-20T15:10:17Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > This one is about 1/10000th of the strength of something which should be worrying… and is probably just a minor rumble. I’d thnk new madrid is not something anyone needs to worry about in our lifetimes, is it? Until the geophysicists and geologists come up with an accurate way to predict big earthquakes, yes, the New Madrid fault needs to be worried about, particularly as _if_ it goes there’s a good chance that damage will most likely extend all the way up the Mississippi basin - and will most likely be much further and more extensive than damage from a big California quake. Of course, IANAG. I just know what I’ve read about the difference in the two seismically active areas. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/7 "2005-06-20T16:26:14Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > 3.5 :rolleyes: > > Although I see it’s on New Madrid. Next big one that goes off there will be something to talk about. Anyone know when the next big New Madrid is due to go off? > > This one is about 1/10000th of the strength of something which should be worrying… and is probably just a minor rumble. I’d thnk new madrid is not something anyone needs to worry about in our lifetimes, is it? Well, the trouble with New Madrid is that it was not a standard fault-based earthquake. It was an alluvial shift. Imagine a large pile of dirt. Now imagine part of that pile of dirt sliding down. Now imagine that sort of thing happening to a depth of several hundred feet over thousands of square miles. Sort of a landslide on a geographic scale. When New Madrid hit, land shifted _yards_ up, down, and sideways. The Mississippi River ran backwards for over an hour. The event ended up lasting for nearly a month as the ground settled out. As not great as we are at predicting regular fault earthquakes, we suck so much more at predicting alluvial shifts. To make things worse, back when the New Madrid earthquake hit, the area was sparsely populated. Now it’s built up. Memphis and other cities in the area would be toast. Loss of life would be drastic. Yeah, it’s something to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/8 "2005-06-20T16:41:33Z")
Earthquakes to the east And earthquakes to the west Though I wanna feel an earthquake Land under me’s at rest ☹ **phouka** , I’d not heard that about the New Madrid, although with the sand geysers and such that it produced, that interpretation makes a lot of sense. Agreed, when it goes it’ll be very bad indeed. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/9 "2005-06-20T18:41:26Z")
3.5? Cute 🙂 I rarely notice the earthquakes that aren’t close to at least a 5. Everyone will call or email, “Did you feel the earthquake?!? It was a 3.7!” “Damnit, I was taking a nap! The earthquake didn’t wake me, but your damn phone call did.” Who knows. Maybe all these quakes are a prediction of what’s to come. Anyone want a martini? Shaken, not stirred, of course. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/10 "2005-06-21T00:09:48Z")
it seems there were 3 small quakes along the new madrid. one in alabama, toward the end of the fault, and two in kentucky near the top of the fault. the quakes went up in richter from al to ky. interesting and worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/11 "2005-06-21T05:35:04Z")
I think it was last week that there was an earthquake around Dyersburg, Tennessee. That would also be along the New Madrid Fault. Dyersburg is in North West Tennessee. The earthquakes of around 1812 along the New Madrid Fault are thought to have been the strongest in the lower 48 in modern times (judging from what I have read.) (Stronger even than the San Francisco earthquake in the early part of the 20th Century.) I grew up about forty miles from Reelfoot Lake which was created by that big earthquake. The land in that area is very hilly compared to the rest of West Tennessee. The biggest of the earthquakes made the Mississippi River flow backwards – and that is one big river. We had a lot of small earthquakes when I was growing up. And there was one when I was in college here in Nashville that was the strangest thing. I didn’t feel it at all. But across campus, it knocked people out of bed. (It’s all part of the same fault system, I think, even this far over into Tennessee.) ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/12 "2005-06-21T06:14:42Z")
I remember hearing about a quake we felt in Knoxville about three years ago. People said their stuff fell off of shelves. I slept through it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/13 "2005-06-21T14:31:56Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > The earthquakes of around 1812 along the New Madrid Fault are thought to have been the strongest in the lower 48 in modern times (judging from what I have read.) (Stronger even than the San Francisco earthquake in the early part of the 20th Century.) I was just going to ask about the date, since I couldn’t remember if the New Madrid quake was in 1812 or 1814. Thanks. Out of curiosity, why is it pronounced MAD-rid instead of ma-DRID? ---
**Author:** ![Fringe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5a626/32.png) [@Fringe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fringe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/14 "2005-06-21T15:09:53Z")
I’m in Kentucky, but I didn’t feel it. Even stranger, this is the first I’ve even heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/15 "2005-06-21T15:21:48Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I was just going to ask about the date, since I couldn’t remember if the New Madrid quake was in 1812 or 1814. Thanks. > > Out of curiosity, why is it pronounced MAD-rid instead of ma-DRID? The same reason the midwestern Cairo, TN, is pronounced “Care-o” and Versailles, IL, is pronounced “Versells”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/16 "2005-06-21T15:25:56Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > The same reason the midwestern Cairo, TN, is pronounced “Care-o” and Versailles, IL, is pronounced “Versells”. My ex-fiancée once said that nobody would understand me if I visited her in TN. Maybe she was right. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/17 "2005-06-21T15:42:33Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > My ex-fiancée once said that nobody would understand me if I visited her in TN. Maybe she was right. Well, if you’re gonna talk funny, like a furrner, sure… ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-earthquake-in-eastern-kentucky/309032/18 "2005-06-21T16:01:10Z")
I’m thinking this is a great time to be selling insurance in any area of the country even mildly near the New Madrid fault. Whether or not it’s a good time to be underwriting new policies there remains to be seen.