Illinois quake rattles attention of Q-C region

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By Ed Tibbetts | Saturday, April 19, 2008 |

The earthquake that shook southeastern Illinois rippled through the Quad-City region Friday, causing no damage but prompting water cooler conversations about the day the earth moved — a little.

“I came into work and said we had an earthquake and nobody believed me,” Katie Feldpausch of Bettendorf said.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a 5.2-magnitude quake struck at 4:37 a.m. six miles from West Salem, Ill. It could be felt in several states.

“I knew I wasn’t crazy,” Feldpausch said.

People in Chicago, Milwaukee and even Atlanta, nearly 400 miles southeast of the

epicenter, said they felt it, too.

In the Quad-Cities, about 300 miles from the epicenter, the quake caused beds and tables to shimmy, and it rattled ceiling fans and chandeliers. Authorities said that was about all, though.

“You probably get the ground shaking as much in a good thunderstorm,” said Ross Bergen, the head of the Scott County Emergency Management Agency.

Exelon Nuclear reported that its Quad-Cities Generation Station in Cordova, Ill., was not affected, but officials did inspect the plant as they do with any seismic activity.

“We found no issues,” spokesman Bill Harris said.

The Quad-Cities is at little risk of earthquake damage, said Jeffrey Strasser, an associate professor of geology at Augustana College in Rock Island. But while rare, it is not unheard of for this area to experience tremors.

In 2004, a 4.2-magnitude quake struck eight miles northwest of Ottawa, Ill.

Harris said that event prompted the nuclear plant to enact aspects of its emergency management plan. That did not happen this time, though.

There appeared to be little concern from the public, either. A half-dozen building contractors said Friday that they received no inquiries.

Still, people did notice.

John Walker of Davenport was sitting at his computer when he noticed it shaking. “I looked around and noticed that the light in the curio cabinet was shimmering, which I found odd,” he said.

A spokesman for the Geological Survey said earthquake magnitudes are not measured outside their epicenter. But the agency does catalog intensity, using an Internet-based system that measures estimates from the public.

As of 10:30 a.m., more than 22,000 reports had been filed, 170 of them from the Quad-Cities.

Those reports characterized the intensity of the quake in this area as “weak,” the second-lowest point on the system’s nine-point scale.

In fact, while it compiled fewer reports in 2004, the quake four years ago was characterized by people here as slightly more intense than Friday’s.

Strasser said this tremor, while relatively intense at the epicenter, should not be taken as anything other than a recognition that the earth is always active. “The earth is always moving,” he added.

In fact, smaller-intensity earthquakes are beneficial because they relieve pressure, he said.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.