by Jeff Martin
It seems as if a 5.2 magnitude Midwest earthquake struck a giant swath of area early Friday morning, including Kansas City.
Reports indicate that it happened before 4:37 a.m. It was centered six miles from West Salem, Ill., and 66 miles from Evansville, Ind., according to The Kansas City Star.
No damage was reported, but police and fire dispatchers from several areas said they received several complaints, including one from The Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence, a mere five miles --- if that --- west of me. Someone else in the city reported to police that all their lawn ornaments were "askew," which I assume means the globes had tipped over and the Polish art figures were humping each other.
I guess even three people called in to Liberty police and fire (again, a mere five minutes from me) to report glasses of water and beds shaking. Even Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt issued a statement, telling the public all that typical shit leaders tell the sheep: coordination efforts, assistance on stand-by, blah-blah-blah.
What concerns me isn't so much that an earthquake happened, but that it was 1) on the tail end of another Christian-reckoning thunderstorm and 2) felt in cities like Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Des Moines --- which is 450 miles northwest of the epicenter!
People, that's one big fucking earthquake. Am I missing something? Hell, one guy in Chicago is reported to have felt his entire house move.
"The quake shook skyscrapers in Chicago’s Loop, 240 miles north of the epicenter, and in downtown Indianapolis, about 160 miles northeast of it," according to The Star.
I guess the U.S. Geological Survey is quoted as saying that earthquakes occur "irregularly" in this area, which boarders the more seismically active New Madrid fault, and that the largest historical earthquake in the region --- 5.4 --- caused damaged in southern Illinois in 1968.
A major New Madrid quake could destroy buildings, bridges, roads and other infrastructure, disrupt communications and isolate areas.
If it wasn't for good reasons, I wouldn't be out here. I mean, this is strike fucking four. First, this area is full of rabid Christians who accost you in bookstores, shove papers in your doors and essentially kidnap your loved ones; 2) the thunder out here portends great evil and danger and makes one skittish; and 3) it's hot as hell and there are ticks the size of Monopoly game pieces.
As for the earthquake last night, it could very well have been bullshit. The media always lies and exaggerates. I was sleeping.
I didn't feel a thing.
2 comments:
I'm in Bath, England at the moment and around the end of Feb, beginning of March, I was gently rocked in my bed for about 45 seconds. I thought I'd lost my mind, especially when I could not get a flatmate to confirm the weirdness. She didn't feel it. I spent the next half an hour staring at my bed and trying to figure out the physics. The next morning I got online and it turned out there was a pretty big earthquake (by UK standards) in Leeds at the very moment I felt the rocking, which was apparently felt everywhere. I was relieved that I hadn't gone mad, but also annoyed that I spent three years in LA and slept through every little quake there. I had to come to England to feel an earthquake? Life is strange.
There was quake in Boulder, Co. when I lived there. I was in bed on a Sunday morning awake and listening to a Denver radio station. I felt the apartment shake for about 10 seconds, followed by the guy on the radio saying, "Hey folks, we just had an earthquake!"
As with yours, no damage was reported. It was something like a 5-point something on the Richter scale. Too bad you were sawing logs when it happened. Hittin' that whuskey again?
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