Rare Earthquake Strikes near Union City, Michigan

Earthquake strikes 11km NE of Union City, Michigan

Centered at 42.147°N, 85.048°W the quake occurred at a [signature] depth of 5.0 km (3.1 mi), USGS/EHP reported.

Our searches of the USGS Earthquake archive show that only four earthquakes have struck the State of Michigan in the past 100 years.

Michigan EQs

• M3.3, 11km NE of Union City, Michigan 2015-06-30 at 15:42:54 UTC depth=5.0 km
• 4.2, 8km S of Galesburg, Michigan 2015-05-02 16:23:07 UTC depth=5.4 km
• M2.5, Michigan 2010-03-08 at 10:10:38 UTC depth=18.0 km
• 3.5 Michigan 1994-09-02 at 21:23:06 UTC depth=5.0 km

Earthquake location Map.  31 earthquakes in map area since June 23, 915.  U.S. Hazard map layer activated. [Source: USGS Earthquake Archive.]

Significant Quake Strikes S of Galesburg, Michigan

M4.2 earthquake strikes 8km S of Galesburg, Michigan

Centered at 42.212°N, 85.429°W the quake occurred at a depth of 5.9 km, reported USGS/EHP.

EQ Details
Magnitude: 4.2Mw
Location: 42.212°N 85.429°W
Depth: 5.9 km
Time: 2015-05-02 16:23:07 UTC

Nearby Cities:

• 8km (5mi) S of Galesburg, Michigan
• 12km (7mi) E of Portage, Michigan
• 15km (9mi) SE of Kalamazoo, Michigan
• 23km (14mi) WSW of Battle Creek, Michigan
• 92km (57mi) SW of Lansing, Michigan

Historic Earthquakes

Southern Michigan: 1947-08-10 at 02:46:41.3 UTC (local 08/09)
Magnitude: 4.60
Intensity: VI

Isoseismal Map

Damage was heaviest in the area southeast of Kalamazoo at Athens, Bronson, Coldwater, Colon, Matteson Lake, Sherwood, and Union City. Chimneys were damaged, windows and plaster were broken, and brick cornices were downed. Also felt in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada. [Source: USGS/EHP]

Michigan: Earthquake History

Shallow Quake Generates 1-m Tsunami

Region name: Torishima Kinkai (Japan)
TSUNAMI ADVISORY: IZU ISLANDS and OGASAWARA ISLANDS

Magnitude 5.9
Location: 31.5N, 140.1E
Depth: Very Shallow
Time:  01:51 JST (UTC + 9.0 hrs) May 3, 2015 (Source: Japan’s weather agency.)

M3.2 EQ Strikes Virginia

SEISMIC HAZARD
HEIGHTENED GLOBAL SEISMICITY
SCENARIO 08
.

Shallow quake occurs W of Richmond, Virginia

Centered at 37.462°N, 78.040°W the quake struck at a depth of 1.1km (0.7mi), according to USGS/EHP.

EQ Details

Magnitude: 3.2
Event Time: 2014-05-22 at 01:47:14 UTC
Location: 37.462°N 78.040°W depth=1.1km (0.7mi)
Nearby Cities

• 13km (8mi) SW of Powhatan, Virginia
• 34km (21mi) W of Brandermill, Virginia
• 43km (27mi) WSW of Short Pump, Virginia
• 43km (27mi) W of Bon Air, Virginia
• 52km (32mi) W of Richmond, Virginia

EQ Location Map

Source: USGS/EHP

 

Significant Quake Strikes Near Villa Park, California

M3.8 Earthquake Strikes 11km E of Villa Park, California

The event was followed by another shock measuring M3.2, which occurred 5km N of Fontana, California.

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP

Earthquake Details

Event Time: 2014-01-16 07:40:06 UTC
Location: 33.833°N, 117.688°W depth=8.5km (5.3mi)
Nearby Cities

• 12km (7mi) WSW of Corona, California
• 13km (8mi) ESE of Yorba Linda, California
• 19km ENE of Santa Ana, California
• 21km E of Anaheim, California
• 57km ESE of Los Angeles, California

Second Event

M3.2, 2014-01-16 09:50:03 UTC, 34.140°N 117.439°W depth=1.7km (1.1mi), 5km N of Fontana, California

Related Links

• Significant Quake Strikes Near Fontana, California January 15, 2014

Significant Quake Strikes Near Fontana, California

M4.4 Earthquake Strikes 5km N of Fontana, California

The event followed three other shocks measuring greater than 2.5Mw that struck California over the past 24 hours.

Earthquake Location Maps. Source: USGS/EHP

Magnitude: 4.4Mw
Event Time: 2014-01-15 09:35:19 UTC
Location: 34.144°N, 117.446°W depth=5.2km (3.2mi)
Nearby Cities:

• 5km (3mi) N of Fontana, California
• 8km (5mi) WNW of Rialto, California
• 9km (6mi) NNW of Bloomington, California
• 9km (6mi) W of Muscoy, California

Other Events

• M2.6, 30km ENE of Soledad, California, 2014-01-15 08:30:15 UTC, 36.574°N 121.037°W depth=8.2km (5.1mi)
• M3.2, 31km ENE of Soledad, California, 2014-01-15 08:18:14 UTC, 36.574°N 121.033°W depth=8.9km (5.5mi)
• M3.3, 2km W of Hollister, California, 2014-01-15 04:52:35 UTC, 36.857°N 121.430°W depth=9.5km (5.9mi)

(Source: USGS/EHP)

Italy Scientists Convicted Over Quake Warning Failure

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,236 Days Left 

[October 23, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. 

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,236 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Italy quake scientists guilty of manslaughter

Six scientists and a government official were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 6 years in prison by an Italian court for failing to give adequate warning of the 2009 deadly earthquake in L’Aquila that killed at least 309 people,  left more than a thousand injured  and destroyed tens of thousands of homes and other buildings.

• The prosecutors successfully argued that the experts had had provided “incomplete, imprecise and contradictory” statements, despite the warning signs, “playing down the threat of a repeat of the earthquakes which wrecked the town in 1349, 1461 and 1703, saying the smaller shocks were a ‘normal geological phenomenon,'” said a report.

• The prosecution had accused the seven, all members of a body called the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, “of negligence and malpractice in evaluating the danger and keeping the central city informed of the risks,” the report said.

• The Commission had met on March 31, 2009, a few days before the M6.3 earthquake struck, but failed to provide adequate information on the dangers despite clusters of low-level tremors that occurred the region in the months preceding the deadly quake.

• In addition to their sentences, the Commission members have been barred from ever holding public office again, La Repubblica reported.

• It remains to be seen whether the justice systems in the U.S., Japan and New Zealand, among other countries, would bring similar action against their scientists and officials for failing to warn the public about the deadly earthquakes and tsunami that have occurred in those countries.

• Any expert who asserts earthquakes were “inherently unpredictable” should not be allowed to hold office, or teach science. [All of the above, of course, is academic now.]

Related Links

• The Ghost of L’Aquila Quake Posted on April 22, 2009
• Magnitude 6.3 quake strikes Italy Posted on April 6, 2009
• Italy Quake Update Posted on April 8, 2009

• Images of the deadly quake near Rome
• Magnitude 6.3 quake strikes Italy
• Earthquakes
• More photos

• Row over Italian quake ‘forecast’

• NZ scientists: Intellectual rigor mortis set? Posted on March 18, 2011