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Scientists say Midwest quakes poorly understood

news.yahoo.com — CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - 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...

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  • casey2kazan, on 04/20/2008, -1/+18One of the biggest quakes in history took place in Missouri a few hundred years ago, I believe.
  • petrodollar, on 04/20/2008, -29/+6Part of the problem is that midwestern land beasts are grotesquely obese and are likely to jostle the tectonic plates as they lumber around their local strip malls and chain restaurants.
    • rpieszak, on 04/20/2008, -1/+13Well, that's not very nice.
      • petrodollar, on 04/20/2008, -14/+2I agree. When I lived in St. Louis for a brief time I had to share public facilities with these people and "nice" is not how I would describe the experience. I think I saw three hot women in as many months. I guess that's what happens when you live in a city where touring the Anheuser-Busch brewery is the most common form of exercise.
        • jgtg32a, on 04/20/2008, -1/+6You do know they give out free beer.
          • petrodollar, on 04/20/2008, -6/+3Yeah, but we're talking about a part of the country where people think a "premium beer" means Bud Select.
          • jgtg32a, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1Free Beer.
      • haydesigner, on 04/20/2008, -3/+7Wasn't overly funny, either.
    • fuzzybeard, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1It's OK, when the Revolution comes, they'll be using people like you for toothpicks!
      • feliks2, on 04/20/2008, -2/+1And people like them (you?) for pillows. But only for prisoners, so they wouldn't have to put up with the digested McDonalds ***** stench.
    • Procure, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1In contrast, petrodollar- I grew up in Minneapolis and go to school currently in Madison, WI, making trips to Chicago often for work on weekends; and you are extremely clouded in your judgment of Midwestern women. In my opinion, the hottest women in the country are from the Midwest... Smart, funny, down to earth, confident, and not pretentious, also.
    • DinosWillDie13, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1im not obese. douchebag.
  • SmellyFingers, on 04/20/2008, -4/+16Quakes don't scare me. I have God on my side.
    • wontstoptalking, on 04/20/2008, -4/+24God doesn't scare me. I have quakes on my side.
      • refreshers, on 04/20/2008, -2/+12God doesn't quake me. I have scare on my side.
        • scy1192, on 04/20/2008, -1/+23Scare doesn't side me. I have God on my Quake.
        • EmperorAwesome, on 04/20/2008, -6/+1@schy1192
          Is that a skin of some sort that I can download?
        • nullx42, on 04/20/2008, -4/+2IDDQD
          • mehan, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1IDKFA


            ..though this is Doom, not Quake.
        • wontstoptalking, on 04/20/2008, -3/+1Scare doesn't Quake me. I have God on my side.
          • geobay, on 04/20/2008, -0/+8______ doesn't _______ me. I have _______ on my ________.
        • yonis, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1That was amazing
    • smartass007, on 04/20/2008, -5/+4i hope this is just a simple case of you forgetting to include the /sarcasm tag

      if not: -1 for you
    • TobiasParker, on 04/20/2008, -4/+2C-C-C-C-COMBO-BREAKER
  • ltchimpo, on 04/20/2008, -2/+26Sidenote: I loved the Star Tribunes front page coverage of the story, quoting a 'resident' (I'd imagine there were millions of observers), but this one said "I thought it was another meth lab exploding". Wow. Way to fear monger.

    "Car crash in atlanta kills two, witnesses said it just sounded like two terrorists shooting AK47's at Americans again"
    • Anditsonfire, on 04/20/2008, -0/+8Yeah, but we have a lot of meth labs around here... *lives in Champaign*
    • DRINKxREDxBULL, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2Everyone who lives in MN knows that the Trib has NO credibility. Recently they were pushing for a new publicly funded Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis. Coincidentally, they just happen to own the land the new stadium would go on, and would be able to sell it at in inflated price.
      • ltchimpo, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1land of 10,000 rehab clinics i tell you...
  • wontstoptalking, on 04/20/2008, -0/+12Yeah, seriously. I live north of Chicago, WAY north of the epicenter. So why did I wake up at about 4:30 because all my pictures hanging in my room were knocking against the wall?
    • kolinkoolface2, on 04/20/2008, -3/+3that's strange, half my friends from Loyola University in Chicago said they didn't feel anything at all.
      • wontstoptalking, on 04/20/2008, -0/+11I didn't "feel" it. I just woke up because all the pictures in my room were shaking. I did not "feel" the earthquake. What's more, my glass of water next to my bed looked like the one in Jurassic Park.
      • pelosislefttit, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1Funny, I started to say Carol Anne out of nowhere. Ain't living in movies cool?
    • br0ken1128, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1I'm in OHIO and it woke me up .. water bottle that was sitting near the edge of the table got knocked off (it was empty) and the sound woke me up.. I felt the house shaking and it went on for about 10 seconds..
    • obliviousfool, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1At first I thought "woo hoo, my first earthquake!" Then I woke up and saw all the cracks in my plaster walls. :-(
      It's bad enough that we have floods and tornadoes. (Indiana)
    • SillyRabbits, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1@wontstoptalking

      Because the midwest and east are a nice big chunk of bedrock and a quake anywhere there is going to send vibrations a LONG way. Even people a long ways from the epicenter should be concerned about a major quake in the area. It will be a lot more significant than a California event.
    • god613, on 04/20/2008, -0/+0I was in East Lansing MI and I felt it. At first I thought it was my idiot roommates jumping around the house but then I realized it was 5:30am and that was probably unlikely. It lasted about 10 seconds and was pretty weak but the only thing I noticed were my golf clubs rattling in my bag in the corner of my room. Weird.
  • tavomarley, on 04/20/2008, -4/+2i like it
  • killbert24, on 04/20/2008, -4/+4Silly scientists... everyone knows that the only place that has earthquakes is California.
  • djepik, on 04/20/2008, -3/+9Midwest quakes - Geology's answer to emo
    • Anditsonfire, on 04/20/2008, -2/+9I live in Champaign, and we have way less emo kids than the west coast.
      • jrackow, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1I live in Champaign, too. I thought for sure it was the wind knocking my shudders back and forth. They make tons of noise. But I did wake up to pee when it was over. Gosh I never know when to stop.
      • cnot3, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1U of I has way less emo kids than west coast schools. Less earthquakes too, generally.
    • djepik, on 04/20/2008, -1/+2I guess nobody is getting this joke. Read the title: Midwest quakes POORLY UNDERSTOOD.
  • scy1192, on 04/20/2008, -3/+1What's there to know about Quake?
  • SpikeLee, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1When the quake hit on Friday, this was one of the first things to come to mind. The years after being built, the area has not had such a quake like the one that occured a century ago. If a quake of that magnitude hit, the area will fare well. I don't mean to sound like a fear monger, but it appears that way to me.
  • JCK4567, on 04/20/2008, -17/+0Incredible Website: http://www.centsports.com/?opcode=71106
  • mytibt, on 04/20/2008, -13/+8In Cali, we don't even consider them quakes unless they break 8.0 anymore
    • casuallyevil, on 04/20/2008, -0/+22Don't be such a one-upper. They're a big deal here where none of our infrastructure is designed for seismic loading.
      • ltchimpo, on 04/20/2008, -0/+7Just wait, Arizona Bay will be here soon enough :)
      • br0ken1128, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1TOOL FTW! .. fck L Ron Hubbard and fck all his clones
      • dylio, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1Some say a comet will fall from the sky
        Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves
        Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still
        Followed by millions of dumbfounded *****

        Some say the end is near
        Some say we'll see armageddon soon
        I certainly hope we will 'cause
        I sure could use a vacation from this
        Stupid *****, silly *****
      • praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1I like Tool...but quoting the lyrics doesn't make you awesome.
    • tcpip4lyfe, on 04/20/2008, -0/+23I bet if you had a tornado warning you'd all freak the ***** out though. We go outside.
      • DRINKxREDxBULL, on 04/20/2008, -4/+1You go inside? We tried to finish baling the rest of our hay before the rain hit. My favorite is when some southern state gets an half an inch of snow and its national news, and it always seems to happen right after we got 8 inches ourselves.
        • Harabeck, on 04/20/2008, -0/+4Well we laugh when you guys get those 65 degree "heat waves".
    • cppdude, on 04/20/2008, -0/+5Except California has never had an earthquake of magnitude 8. The largest earthqaukes ever to hit the US are all in Alaka. In the lower 48, the largest are in the midwest. California ranks a poor 3rd.

      http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/10_larg ...
  • sofaKing812, on 04/20/2008, -1/+25The only thing that I know for sure is that was the most rocking my bed got in a long time.
  • Frejesal, on 04/20/2008, -12/+1The end is coming.
  • shyboy2008, on 04/20/2008, -24/+1who cares about the midwest
    • scy1192, on 04/20/2008, -2/+10people who live thar
      • haydesigner, on 04/20/2008, -0/+9And people who used to live there.
        And people that have loved ones there.
        And people who just plain like the Midwest.
        • docbob84, on 04/20/2008, -0/+0And people who eat food from here. I'm assuming most of the east and west coasts are not self-sufficient agriculturally. Sucks to be them.
    • sfcaptainrob, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2You know there's more to the country than New York and LA right?
  • Frejesal, on 04/20/2008, -13/+4Weird stuff is starting to happen.
    Tornadoes and earthquakes in weird places, those tsunamis a while back.

    I think the world is nearing its end, for lots of reasons too long to explain.
    I hope it ends before I have to grow up. Being old sucks.
    • Frejesal, on 04/20/2008, -8/+2Does anyone else have the problem where you press "Edit" after realizing your post needed more thought and then it just makes the post disappear?
      • haydesigner, on 04/20/2008, -3/+6What, you wanted to sound even stupider than you already did?
    • ltchimpo, on 04/20/2008, -4/+1Wow, well thank god you'll commit suicide for being such a fat loser before you get old. The world's not going to end, you're going to die. But the world's not going to end (and if the voice in your head that you think is god is telling you things... seriously... you think there's some user-friendly white-haired god somewhere? you should kill yourself)
    • malman4, on 04/20/2008, -2/+2Don't worry, you'lll probably never see twelve...........
    • br0ken1128, on 04/20/2008, -1/+2You're a moron .. earthquakes have hit this region before in recorded history and I'm willing to bet many times before recorded history.. we have fault lines running right under ohio in and quakes happen somewhat often .. minor though, the last time I FELT an quake was more than 10 years ago .. don't remember exactly but it definitely rocked the house.. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/8144/Default.aspx
    • br0ken1128, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1
      I said more than 10 years but it's more like more than 20 years ago (man I'm old) .. 22 years ago

      Found it ..

      http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/ ...

    • fuzzybeard, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2relax, it was just me after some greasy Mexican food & Natty Lite.
  • forgiste, on 04/20/2008, -7/+2This should help clear it up http://youtube.com/watch?v=7_rBidCkJxo
    This is what we get for disrespecting our Mother Earth
  • helliottlaw, on 04/20/2008, -3/+2occam's razor: oprah farted
  • pelosislefttit, on 04/20/2008, -5/+3The explanation is quite simple.

    GLOBAL WARMING. Duh.

    And if you don't believe that one, then Bush did it. Enough said.
    • clayasaurus, on 04/20/2008, -1/+2I think that rising CO2 levels have a direct correlation to incompetence in government.

      I'll call it 'Global Incompetence.' If we don't stop using CO2, Global Incompetence will rise to new levels never seen before in history, causing even more disaster than what we have. The Iraq war is just the beginning.

      We can stop Global Incompetence by giving the government more money though. They'll take care of it for us.
    • baconz, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2not bush, but his henchmen (oooh that sounds scary). yea, his henchmen were trying orchestrate another humanitarian disaster that would kill 1,000's of u.s. citizens so that bush can use his powers to stay in office. and declare war against canada with their weather control weapon and put the others in the 800+ REAL detainment camps across the country, then sacrifice babies to a 30ft owl.
      you see, it fits occam's conundrumical theorem precisely. "if the shoe doesn't fit like a duck, push harder"
  • Frnnkdlxx, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2anyone interested, please look up underground cities. Big drilling bores and advanced explosive devices.
    • pelosislefttit, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1Maybe like Zion in The Matrix?
    • clayasaurus, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1Or look up Phil Schneider
    • lasergangsta, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1thats exactly what i was thinking! us military... - but can you give some better search keywords? cause i dint find much w/underground cities... im suprized more diggers arent saying anything about this... specially with sci's not knowing where it came from...
      • Frnnkdlxx, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1check out my youtube page and then check my digg page submissions and digg through all my science tech sources:

        frnnk (check my favorites on helpful info)
        frnnkeducation

  • say592, on 04/20/2008, -0/+4I felt it.

    It just felt like a truck going by for about 45 seconds. Then it was over.

    Of course, I live in northern Indiana, so I was pretty far from it.
    • malman4, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2I live 24 miles from the epicenter, and I'll guarantee you that I felt it, and the after-shocks.
  • Donnshin, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2Yeah, we felt it here in Indiana, though it was when most of everyone was sleeping. But the aftershock hit a little before noon. It was my first time ever feeling one of them, and it was a bit scary to be honest.
  • MrWally, on 04/20/2008, -1/+3I live in the Chicago-land area and the first quake woke me up at night while I was sleeping, but I was too tired to realize what was actually happening, then the next day at around 11:00 maybe I felt an aftershock in class. It was as if someone was shaking the desk back and forth continuously, it was actually kind of neat.
  • quail20, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1A great deal of the region surrounding the Mississippi that runs through Missouri and up into Illinois is of a sandy composition. Geologists since at least the 80's have warned of the possibility of quakes, small ones, doing a great deal of damage to towns in the area.
  • cldnails, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2Damn near rolled me out of bed at 4:30 in the morning. Longest lasting quake I've ever experienced.
  • tdawson2012, on 04/20/2008, -3/+4Ask Ben Stein, if he doesn't know he'll gladly make something up for you. Angry Dwarf theory sounds good.
    • caponumen, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1LOL, sounds like you're bitter because your anus is clinging to your neck.
  • BikerDude69, on 04/20/2008, -2/+1I understood what it was trying to say... "Get those condos off my back!" - Robin Williams
  • john.furlong, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2I had just hit the snooze alarm when I felt the rumbling. At first, I thought the wind was blowing really hard and making the walls creak. About 10 seconds in, I realized what it was. Being from the deep south, and new to southern Indiana, I'd never felt an earthquake before. My kids slept through it. Too much excitement for so early in the morning.
  • Harabeck, on 04/20/2008, -1/+3How is this poorly understood? My geopgraphy professor talked about it in class. He made it sound like they knew exactly what was going on. The New Madrid fault area was caused by a failed rift which started to tear the continent apart in the precambrian era. The area has been a weakspot ever since. And what exactly do they mean related? How is a fault related to another fault? Its there, we know where it is. Weve monitored it for decades now, why dont they know?
  • paross2, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2never felt a thing, although i did wake up before my alarm that morning. it must have been an earthquake to make me budge.

    (I'm a poser who lives in Lexington and wants to be cool. Louisville has all the great things to do. Sports teams, museums, good places to eat, earthquakes that make national headlines)
  • drfluffer, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1The Cloverfield monster is my only rational explanation.
  • jchndler, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2I live about 45 miles from the epicenter and was immediately woken up from sleep. At first I thought I was dreaming, and after about 5 seconds I realized what was happening, although I've never felt a earthquake before. I live on the 2nd floor of an older apartment building and it was somewhat hard to stand when I got up. I could hear what it sounded like the ground roaring and all the items in my cabinets and fridge rattling against each other, it was quite frightening. Not the best way to be woken up at 4:35 a.m.
  • nealsoad, on 04/20/2008, -1/+0Wonderful, I live about a mile from the the Wabash river/fault line. It's a strange area too. It's flat-flat-flat-wide river-sudden150-200 raise in elevation-flat-flat. Strangest part, I slept through it and didn't know about it until my parents called me about from over a 100 miles away... where it shook the house so hard it woke them up. F'd up.
  • Phisch27, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1I live in Bloomington Normal, Il, about 100 miles from the epicenter, at the top of the tallest dorm in the world, and this freaks me out. I woke up feeling my whole building shake. I hope my building, which was built in the 70's, has the strength to make it through these quakes, otherwise there would be 2000 college students misplaced or possibly dead. I hope that scientists can come up with an explanation about the quake area and give us a good idea of how to prepare ourselves.
  • outkaster, on 04/20/2008, -1/+1Maby it's just our planet growing???
    http://www.nealadams.com/nmu.html
    • MadCactus, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1Sweet! More pseudoscience garbage to laugh at!
  • dhughes, on 04/20/2008, -2/+1J E L L O
  • caponumen, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1Oh *****!, snow tornado, lightning quakes!
    Our queer little flaky quakes, don't seem so bad now, do they?
  • JamesMatt, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1IT WAS A CURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEllo!!!!!!!!!11
  • zmigliozzi, on 04/20/2008, -0/+2Scientists say Midwest quakes poorly understood AFTER IT HAPPENS. When will someone actually predict something like this before it happens. Bridge collapses in Minnesota, for the next month everyone becomes a structural 'expert' and everyone demands their local bridges be inspected. It takes something bad for people to actually take care of something.
  • refactoringdr, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1I live about 10 miles from the epicenter and it spooked me pretty good. Probably too many Discovery channel specials about how St. Louis was going to get leveled by the BIG ONE in the New Madrid fault. What's a little more unsettling is that there have been a dozen or so smaller quakes that we can still feel (> M1.5).

    This is all very unusual for the midwest.
    Give me my tornadoes back.
    California can keep this crap.
  • pickleprince, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1I hope the midwest falls into the Ocean...uh oh...wrong thread.
  • ecidnac, on 04/20/2008, -0/+1They're not lying about Midwest quakes radiating for great distances. My dad sent me a link to an article from the Toronto Star that reports that the earthquake was felt 800km away (about 500 miles) in southern Ontario: http://www.thestar.com/article/416149
    Personally... I live in Chicago, and I slept right through it, and didn't notice the large aftershock hours later at all...
  •  

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