What's Shaking? Government Information on the Environment and Natural Science

Abstract

Shortly after noon on June 18, 2002, people in southern Indiana were surprised by a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. While people near the epicenter experienced ground shaking, people further away, noticed little things, such as a wobbling computer monitor and a slight pop of the windows. When a geologist from the Indiana Geological Survey, who was working in the Geology Library, said that it may have been an earthquake, I immediately checked the National Earthquake Information Center’s web site (http://neic.usgs.gov) for information. Before the calls from the press and the public started five minutes later, I had learned that initial reports placed the location of the earthquake in southern Illinois; within 30 minutes the location of the epicenter had been changed to Darmstadt, Indiana. Information on the earthquake is still available on the NEIC web site(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2002/usfnbk/map.html).