Sapheyerblu Review

When you think about earthquakes, you probably don’t think about Nebraska.  But, a 3.5 earthquake hit the South-Eastern part of the state on Wednesday evening (12-16-09).  People in and around the Auburn (NE) felt the quake at around 8:30 pm Central time.  Other towns that felt the quake were Nebraska City and Peru (NE).  It was also felt by people in Iowa and Missouri.

People have been reporting earthquakes in Nebraska for as long as it’s been considered a state.  The biggest quake was reported in 1877, which was a quake that registered 5.1 on the Richter scale.  Most people don’t realize that there are a couple fault lines that run through Nebraska.  Honestly, most people in the state don’t realize that they’re subject to earthquakes.  And those that have felt the effects of these tiny earthquakes, or “microquakes” as they’ve come to be called, either have no idea what they just felt or chalk it up to one of the thousands of trains that run through the state on a daily basis.

The 1877 quake was said to be the biggest on record for the state of Nebraska, but not the only one.  In 1964, another 5.1 earthquake hit the state, but this time it was closer to the Western side.  Towns such as Merriman, Rushville, and Alliance felt the shock waves of the event.  Stores found their products broken on the floor, buildings were damaged, and streets formed minor cracks.  Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt.

Sadly, trying to find more information about the fault lines in Nebraska isn’t as easy as it sounds.  The more you look for this information, the more you see about California and Nevada, or the New Madrid fault line which runs through much of the Eastern part of the country.  Because most people don’t think of earthquakes happening in the middle of the country, apparently they don’t think there’s a need for vital information.  I hope this trend changes before it’s too late.

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