Little Earthquakes

Cathy and I were woken around 5:37 this morning with the house shaking. Cathy knew immediately it was an earthquake. I however rolled over and went back to sleep. The 5.4 quake was centered in West Salem, IL, about 40 miles north of Evansville, tied with the biggest on record in Indiana with a 5.4 quake in 1968. Of course both pale in comparison to the estimated 8.0 New Madrid earthquakes of 1811/1812 that forever changes the course of the Mississippi River.

I remember the 5.1 quake in 1987. I would have been Middle School then. What I remember is sitting on the floor and trying to stand up at the same time the quake hit and being very disoriented. I also remember another one either when I was at Ball State or maybe soon after moving to Bloomington. It must have been the 2002 4.6 quake centered in Darmstadt, Indiana. Not quite the Pacific Ring of Fire, but our fault line is anything bu quiet. In honor of the force of nature that was the earthquake, I had to listen to Uncle Tupelo's "New Madrid" this morning. Seemed appropriate.