Ross
Well-known member
Yeah Ohio felt it too. I heard a rumbling, but myself, didn't feel anything, but people as far South as Cincinnati felt it.
An earthquake tremor rattled Stark County Wednesday afternoon, causing buildings to sway and office chairs to shake. Some residents felt as if they were going to pass out.
Others didn’t feel a thing.
The cause: A magnitude 5.0 earthquake in Canada near the Ontario-Quebec border, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“My co-worker thought her deceased brother was messing with her,” said Kathy J. Schleis, of Jackson Township. “We both felt light-headed, then we noticed our water glasses shaking. Really scary.”
Julie Ann Davis, of North Canton, had a similar experience. “At first I questioned what I was feeling, thinking maybe I was having a medical emergency,” she said. “This tremor shook every part of your internal body.”
Damage was not reported in Stark County or elsewhere in Ohio.
RUMBLE THROUGH OHIO
The earthquake was felt from Ashtabula to Cincinnati at roughly 1:45 p.m., across the Ohio River to Fort Thomas, Ky., said Mac Swinford, assistant state geologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological Survey, which includes the Ohio Seismic Network.
In Ohio, the shaking would have been felt for about five to 10 seconds, Swinford estimated.
So why did Stark County residents — as well as those in Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, Akron and Youngstown — feel the vibrations?
Mark McNaught, associate professor of geology at Mount Union College and chair of the Geology Department, compared it to throwing a rock into a pond. The department is part of the Ohio Seismic Network’s 25 volunteer seismograph stations, which measure a quake’s power.
“I can’t say it’s a serious event,” McNaught said of the tremor felt in the Canton area. “But it certainly got peoples’ attention.”
The rock plunging into the pond would represent the epicenter (where the earthquake’s energy emerges at the surface), McNaught said. Rippling of the water outwardly would represent energy produced by the quake traveling on the surface. Eventually, making its way to Ohio and Stark County, roughly 475 miles away.
“I’m thinking the geology of Ontario down into Ohio, the rocks at depth (five to 10 miles) are relatively unbroken and transmit energy very efficiently,” Swinford said.
“The (strata) allows the transmission of the seismic energy laterally over miles and miles without it becoming weaker,” he said.
The energy also is amplified when it travels through some areas with clay-rich deposits beneath the Earth to the surface, Swinford said.
Although others on campus felt the tremor, McNaught was unaware of the quake until receiving a phone call from The Repository.
“I’m a little surprised by the wide area this seemed to be felt over,” he said.
How much a person felt the shaking depended on whether they were moving, sitting or standing still, McNaught said. Those on the upper floors of buildings also would feel it more, he added.
Another factor is the type of rock and sediment beneath a building, McNaught said. There’s no way to scientifically measure where the vibrations would have been the greatest in Stark County, McNaught said.
OHIO QUAKES
Tremors and earthquakes are not unheard of in Ohio. Six have been recorded in Ohio so far this year, Swinford said. In 2006, Ohio had 16 earthquakes. Many originate in Lake County near Lake Erie, Swinford said.
Most Ohio quakes are low in magnitude. More powerful vibrations have resulted in broken windows and dinner plates, Swinford said.
Roughly 10 years ago, the Alliance area had a small earthquake (around a magnitude 3), McNaught said. And its effects did not stretch far beyond that area, he said.
In 1937, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurred in Shelby County, Ohio, damaging a high school building, Swinford said.
The Canadian earthquake “is very important because an earthquake of a 5 magnitude is a rather rare event,” he said. “However, these events can have large consequences and ... we believe in Ohio we can expect an earthquake of a magnitude of about 6.0 is possible. So here we are in Canada with a 5.0.
A 6.0 quake packs 32 times the energy of a 5.0 quake, he said.
“Can you imagine one 32 times the energy in Ohio in a state with over 11.5 million people in it?,” Swinford said.
Copyright 2010 CantonRep.com. Some rights reserved
An earthquake tremor rattled Stark County Wednesday afternoon, causing buildings to sway and office chairs to shake. Some residents felt as if they were going to pass out.
Others didn’t feel a thing.
The cause: A magnitude 5.0 earthquake in Canada near the Ontario-Quebec border, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“My co-worker thought her deceased brother was messing with her,” said Kathy J. Schleis, of Jackson Township. “We both felt light-headed, then we noticed our water glasses shaking. Really scary.”
Julie Ann Davis, of North Canton, had a similar experience. “At first I questioned what I was feeling, thinking maybe I was having a medical emergency,” she said. “This tremor shook every part of your internal body.”
Damage was not reported in Stark County or elsewhere in Ohio.
RUMBLE THROUGH OHIO
The earthquake was felt from Ashtabula to Cincinnati at roughly 1:45 p.m., across the Ohio River to Fort Thomas, Ky., said Mac Swinford, assistant state geologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological Survey, which includes the Ohio Seismic Network.
In Ohio, the shaking would have been felt for about five to 10 seconds, Swinford estimated.
So why did Stark County residents — as well as those in Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, Akron and Youngstown — feel the vibrations?
Mark McNaught, associate professor of geology at Mount Union College and chair of the Geology Department, compared it to throwing a rock into a pond. The department is part of the Ohio Seismic Network’s 25 volunteer seismograph stations, which measure a quake’s power.
“I can’t say it’s a serious event,” McNaught said of the tremor felt in the Canton area. “But it certainly got peoples’ attention.”
The rock plunging into the pond would represent the epicenter (where the earthquake’s energy emerges at the surface), McNaught said. Rippling of the water outwardly would represent energy produced by the quake traveling on the surface. Eventually, making its way to Ohio and Stark County, roughly 475 miles away.
“I’m thinking the geology of Ontario down into Ohio, the rocks at depth (five to 10 miles) are relatively unbroken and transmit energy very efficiently,” Swinford said.
“The (strata) allows the transmission of the seismic energy laterally over miles and miles without it becoming weaker,” he said.
The energy also is amplified when it travels through some areas with clay-rich deposits beneath the Earth to the surface, Swinford said.
Although others on campus felt the tremor, McNaught was unaware of the quake until receiving a phone call from The Repository.
“I’m a little surprised by the wide area this seemed to be felt over,” he said.
How much a person felt the shaking depended on whether they were moving, sitting or standing still, McNaught said. Those on the upper floors of buildings also would feel it more, he added.
Another factor is the type of rock and sediment beneath a building, McNaught said. There’s no way to scientifically measure where the vibrations would have been the greatest in Stark County, McNaught said.
OHIO QUAKES
Tremors and earthquakes are not unheard of in Ohio. Six have been recorded in Ohio so far this year, Swinford said. In 2006, Ohio had 16 earthquakes. Many originate in Lake County near Lake Erie, Swinford said.
Most Ohio quakes are low in magnitude. More powerful vibrations have resulted in broken windows and dinner plates, Swinford said.
Roughly 10 years ago, the Alliance area had a small earthquake (around a magnitude 3), McNaught said. And its effects did not stretch far beyond that area, he said.
In 1937, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurred in Shelby County, Ohio, damaging a high school building, Swinford said.
The Canadian earthquake “is very important because an earthquake of a 5 magnitude is a rather rare event,” he said. “However, these events can have large consequences and ... we believe in Ohio we can expect an earthquake of a magnitude of about 6.0 is possible. So here we are in Canada with a 5.0.
A 6.0 quake packs 32 times the energy of a 5.0 quake, he said.
“Can you imagine one 32 times the energy in Ohio in a state with over 11.5 million people in it?,” Swinford said.
Copyright 2010 CantonRep.com. Some rights reserved
