A Strange Earthquake Shook Southeastern Illinois Saturday Night

This has been a year of strange earthquake locations in Illinois and Missouri already. Saturday night was no exception as a not insignificant quake was confirmed by the USGS to shake the southeastern part of Illinois.

Since I check the USGS earthquake page several times every day, I get used to where earthquakes are common and where they are not. I can count on one hand the number of occasions when this part of Illinois has had a measurable quake. The USGS seismologists have confirmed there was a 2.4 magnitude quake centered near Enfield, Illinois at approximately 10:03pm Saturday, August 10.

This was likely not a New Madrid Seismic Zone event, but the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone instead. As Wikipedia mentions, there is geological evidence that there has been a quake as large as a 7.0 magnitude shaker or perhaps even a 7.5 in this region. I’ve seen some speculation that the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone might be capable of an even larger quake than the New Madrid Fault.

The good news is a 2.4 is not capable of any level of damage and virtually no one has reported feeling it as of this writing. Still, it’s an interesting geological event in what’s already been a compelling seismic year in Illinois and Missouri.