It was an experience unlike any other. I was awakened by the house creaking and shifting and the bed shaking back and forth. It was my first earthquake. For those of you who have felt them before, I guess you are used to the ground movin' a little. For me, I was a little freaked out. Put me on the path to chase a tornado or awaiting a land falling hurricane and I am nothing short of an adrenaline junkie....but when the earth shook beneath me, I felt very small. Mother Earth reminds us very quickly that we are at her mercy and that things can change in a split second.
Thankfully nobody was hurt and no serious damage was reported when the 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit Southern Illinois last Friday. The aftershocks were not as powerful but were felt for many miles from Missouri to Tennessee. Many people I have spoken to are surprised that you could feel these quakes so far away. I know a bit of background on the fault system that lies below us and it is quite different than those that lie below Southern California and the Pacific Rim. On the West Coast, fault lines are associated with continental plate boundaries. Here in the Lower Midwest, we lie in the middle of a continental plate. Our soil is different as well. Our region is built on a great deal of sandy soil due to the proximity to the area rivers. This could lead to a process called liquefaction. The sandy soil turns to a "liquid" and can cause greater damage if a large enough earthquake hit. On the West Coast...their soils are rockier and accustomed to shifting and shaking. People can feel our quakes for greater distances because of the fact that we are in the middle of a continental plate. The vibrations radiate out further on a solid, "unbroken" surface.
In light of the recent quake and the awareness that the New Madrid fault remains active, I have been reading more and more everyday about our region's shaking. If you have any thoughts or reactions you would like to share, please contribute to the blog. I know many viewers have personal stories and reflections about this issue and this is a great place to share with others!
Let there be "shakeless" nights ahead!
Meteorologist Jennifer Rukavina 
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About jrukavina
Born and raised in Canton, Ohio....home of the Professional Football Hall of Fame. Graduated from Mississippi State University with a Masters of Science in Broadcast Meteorologist. Prior to that, a graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Geography.
Actively involved and is a member of the National Weather Association, the American Meteorological Society, the 4-Rivers Chapter of the National Weather Association, an avid storm chaser, 2nd place Kentucky AP winner for best weathercast 2006, and a recent Emmy Nominee for coverage of April 2006's Tornado Outbreak across the NewsChannel 6 area.
Her husband Brian is the Assistant Director of Environmental Education at Murray State. They are the proud parents of their first son, born August 2006.
