According to the USGS (United States Geological Survey), an earthquake occurred in the northwest part of Scioto County at 7:14 am Wednesday.
The USGS reports that two citizens contacted them regarding the tremor.
The quake was a result of plate tectonics shifting 15 miles below the surface just a little over a mile southwest of Rarden.
SCDN spoke with Scioto EMA Director, Larry Mullins about the event.
According to him, no significant damage had been reported to nearby structures or bridges.
Mullins did shed some light on the geographical and historical significance of the seismic zone that lies below our feet.
“We are part of the New Madrid fault seismic zone and have small earthquakes from time to time. While not as active as the San Andreas fault, the New Madrid fault is much larger.”
“There were several large magnitude 8 earthquakes between 1811-1812 that were the biggest in US history and caused a lot of damage. Fortunately, there were not a lot of people in the territory back then.”
“According to seismologists, there is a slight chance of a magnitude 7 or 8 during the next 50 years in the New Madrid zone.”
