Earthquake shakes Miami Valley; many report feeling tremor

DAYTON — The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a 4.2 magnitude earthquake Thursday near Kokomo, Ind.

The earthquake, which was five miles southeast of Greentown, Ind., occurred about 7:55 a.m.

Some Miami Valley residents in the counties of Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Warren and Darke have reported that they felt the ground shake Thursday morning.

“(It) shook our house just before 8 a.m.,” said Carol Odgers of Bellbrook via e-mail. “ Chandeliers and lampshades wobbled. “It was over before I could get to a doorway (about 3 seconds), but also caused a rift of snow to fall from the roof.”

“I was sitting at the computer in the loft of my house when pictures on the wall in front of me started to shake. It lasted about 5 seconds,” said Paul Rybolt of Greene County.

Tina Lee of Miami Twp. said she had lived in Los Angeles for 14 years so she was used to earthquakes and tremors. “I was sitting in my bed working on my computer and I felt the bed move for about seems like a couple of seconds. I immediately looked at my clock and it said 07:56 a.m.,” she said.

“I felt it here in Butler Township at 7:46 am.,” Jack Smith said via e-mail. “It was very mild, but a definite earthquake.”

“I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning when the house shook and items on the counter rattled. This was just before 8 am.,” said Jo Ella Michael. “We live just north of Arcanum, Ohio. Also thankful that’s all there was to it.”

April Cook, an administrative assistant for the city of Miamisburg, felt the aftershock in her Centerville kitchen.

“It startled me,” said Cook, adding that the aftershock lasted several seconds. “I live in an apartment building and at first I thought it was someone in the next apartment. It felt like they were trying to break the wall down. Then I heard about it on the radio.”

John Ramer of Piqua said he was on his couch reading the newspaper when he felt a slight tremor. “Our house is very sturdy so I thought there must have been some pretty high winds. I checked outside, but conditions were calm. I then assumed the tremor was driven by an earthquake somewhere, and I noted the time was 7:55,” he said.

So far there have been no early reports of significant damage.

Check back for details.

Staff Writers Margo Rutledge Kissell and Jill Kelley contributed to this report.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Earthquake rattles Indiana, Illinois

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Officials from the U.S. Geological Survey said an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2 has been registered in Indiana, just north of Indianapolis near the small town of Kokomo.

No damages or injuries were reported as a result of the quake that hit at 6:55 a.m., officials said.

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Some people in the Chicago area said they felt shaking from the earthquake, though it's unclear if a 4.2 magnitude quake in Central Indiana could be felt as far west as Cook County.

In comparison, a 7.0 earthquake that was registered in Haiti in January of 2010 is 100 times stronger than the quake felt in Indiana this morning, officials from the U.S. Geological Society said.

This isn't the first quake felt in the Midwest in the past year. A 3.8-magnitude quake shook the suburbs for seven seconds just before dawn on Feb. 10.

The earthquake's epicenter was about three miles beneath a farm field a short distance south of Pingree Grove, near Route 20 and Switzer Road in western Kane County.

That quake was caused by a previously unknown fault line that has not generated any shocks since geologists started keeping track 150 years ago.

In Indiana, Howard County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Steve Rogers says the department was bombarded by phone calls after the quake from people wondering what had happened. He says some people reported hearing a loud boom.

Indiana University geologist Michael Hamburger told Indianapolis television station WTHR the quake was felt across Central Indiana and into western Ohio. He said the temblor occurred in an area “that's seismically very quiet.”

The Indianapolis Star is reporting the quake was felt as far west as New Castle, Indiana, and that items shook off the shelf in Martinsville, located in northeast Indiana

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101230/news/712319916/#ixzz19boEtxWD

Indiana Rattled By Earthquake

We don't see a headline like this very often:

"4.2 Magnitude Earthquake Hits North Central Indiana." (Indianapolis Star)

The U.S. Geological Survey says it happened at just before 8 a.m. ET. The temblor was felt in adjacent states as well.

At the Star's website, folks are sending in reports such as this:

"In Dayton, Ohio, Ashley Herman felt the quake on the 18th floor of a high-rise.

" 'Everything on my desk rattled,' she wrote in an e-mail. 'At first I just thought it was in my head'."

A Twitter search on #earthquake shows folks are starting to chime in with tweets about what they felt.