14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-Earthquake Strikes Tri-State

Earthquake Strikes Tri-State

Click here for larger image of the earthquake seismic reading

Tuesday's 5.0 earthquake, centered near Darmstadt just northwest of Evansville, didn't do much damage, but it sure got folks' attention.

The quake was officially felt in seven states, although Newswatch received one e-mail from as far away as West Virginia from a user who reported feeling the tremor. It prompted "Where were you when the quake hit?" conversations throughout the day Tuesday.

Damage was limited to a few broken windows and cracked chimneys and house foundations. There were also few injuries, mostly limited to sprains and bruises from people who lost their balance and fell during the tremor.

Tri-state emergency officials have long identified earthquakes as major potential disasters. The Southwest Indiana Disaster Resistant Community Corporation was formed to handle public education and plan for disasters like earthquakes.

Currently, the DRCC has projects pending with the federal government in three areas. One is a study that will comprehensively map the geological features in the earth's crust under southwest Indiana. Another is a pilot project to wire the major roads and bridges here so emergency officials will have real-time information on damage following a major earthquake or tornado. Those projects are awaiting federal funding. The third project will upgrade the seismograph at Harrison High School, and install two more in Vanderburgh county. Those will be installed yet this summer under a grant from St. Louis University and the U.S. Geological Survey.

According to executive director Christine Martin, the DRCC is also working on a pilot project this summer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to enlist the help of community and faith based groups in disaster preparation and education.

Listed below are the Tuesday afternoon updates that appeared on 14wfie.com. This section also contains video and audio clips of the quake as it happened, as well as explanations that appeared later on 14 WFIE.

Update:3:35pm: The USGS is reporting that there was only one earthquake Tuesday, registering 5.0 on the Richter Scale, centered 6 miles WSW of Darmstadt. This was a relatively shallow quake, at about 3 miles deep in the earth's crust.

Update: 2:15: The United States Geological Survey wants to hear from you if you felt the earthquake. Click here to report that information; on the same link you can see how far reaching the earthquake was felt.

Update: 2:05pm: The National Earthquake Center is reporting two earthquakes, one at 5.0 at 12:37, centered just southwest of Darmstadt, and one at 4.4, centered in southern Illinois near Paducah. This was a fairly shallow quake, about three miles deep in the earth.

Update: 1:37pm: The National Earthquake Center reports the quake as 5.0 with the epicenter at Darmstadt.

Update: 1:14pm: The Associated Press is now saying that the quake was centered about 10 miles northwest of Evansville with a magnitude of 5.0. We have confirmed reports of the quake being felt as far away as South Bend.

Update: 1pm: We have confirmation of the earthquake. A preliminary measurement puts it at 4.4 on the Richter scale. We do not know the epicenter yet. However, we have reports of the tremor being felt from Louisville to Madisonville in Kentucky, to Lawrenceville in Illinois and Dubois county in southwest Indiana.

There has been some damage. We have reports from Warrick county of cracked walls and chimneys, also some minor damage in Holland, Indiana.

An earthquake struck the tri-state during the noon hour Tuesday. We have reports of tremors being felt as  far away as Indianapolis. Tune to Newswatch and come back to this site for updates.