Great
Earthquakes In Diverse Places
Earthquake Hits Minnesota
Imagine the ground shaking as you are sleeping, that's what some
people up in Alexandria felt overnight when a earthquake hit.
(ABC 6 NEWS) -- There are no reports of damage or injuries -- but
there are a lot of people left with questions.
"I've never heard of Minnesota having an earthquake," says Erin
Moss from Rochester.
"We're used to tornadoes, rain storms, but never ever earthquakes,
" says 20-year-old Elizabeth Davidson.
But scientists say, although it is rare, it can happen.
"We're usually pretty safe from particularly any kind of dangerous
earthquake, but that doesn't mean there aren't faults around and
so every once and a while they'll just shift a little bit," says
Dr. John Tacinelli, Director of the Earth and Science Department
at Rochester Community Technical College (RCTC).
"Even though it was pretty close it was too small, there's nothing
there, we didn't pick it up," says Tacinelli.
Scientist say an earthquake of that magnitude at most would feel
like a train was going by your house. Nothing compared to the
earthquake that hit across the pacific ocean in Japan in early
March.
"We could see it ten minutes before it hit, that one was a 9.0
half way around the world and that's the aftershocks you there and
there," says Tacinelli, "you can see it was going for hours."
"I was just sharing with my husband last night when we were
watching some of the coverage in Japan I was just so thankful we
live in Minnesota where we don't have to worry about earthquakes,
but I'm shocked its so bizarre," says Sara Schmoll who has live in
Minnesota all her life.
So how often can we expect these powerful tremors?
Well, according to the states seismic history there have been a
total of 19 earthquakes, excluding the one that just happened.
The last recorded was a 3.1 earthquake in Granite Falls back in
1994.
"I didn't think I would have to fear an earthquake living here in
the Midwest," says Moss, who is a Minnesota native for 35 years.
"We are one of those states that gets the least amount of
earthquakes," says Tacinelli.
"I don't think its going to cause me alarm, I think i'll still be
far more cautious about tornadoes," says Jeff Schmoll.
Scientists also say, those of us in the southeastern part of
Minnesota should be in the clear because there are no direct fault
lines in this area and no quakes have ever been recorded here.