Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Mild Earthquake? UPDATE: Confirmed

At 12:46 CDT, I felt about a minute and a half's worth of mild shaking, as I watched my floor lamp and monitor also shake.

Weird!

Did you feel it?



UPDATE:

Map courtesy: www.usgs.gov (red square is the location of the quake)

Quake hits near Canada's capital, felt in Chicago

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit near the Canadian capital of Ottawa this afternoon, strong enough for tremors to be felt in the Chicago area.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit about 10 miles underground at about 12:40 p.m. central time.

Catherine White was sitting on a sofa reading a newspaper in her 3rd floor apartment near Montrose and Lake Shore Drive this afternoon when she felt the sofa shake.

White's mother Vicki Quade, sitting about 10 feet away at a computer terminal, also felt a tremor.

"I thought at first that it was the neighbors running or something, but it was too much for that. Too powerful,'' said White, 18. "You could see the newspaper moving, it was weird. It was strange."

Quade and her daughter -- who believe their building is on a fault line -- said they felt the tremor at about 12:50 p.m. and estimated it lasted about 12 to 15 seconds.

"It's a long 12 to 15 seconds," Quade said.