MAY’S LICK | While University of Kentucky fans were watching the battle between the Wildcats and Alabama, there was something rumbling beneath May’s Lick, in Mason County, Tuesday night.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey earthquake center, a 2.4 magnitude earthquake was detected 8 kilometers below the earth’s surface, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, with Rose Lane in May’s Lick as the epicenter.
It is listed on the USGS Earthquake website map as being 8.2 miles south southwest of Maysville, putting it practically under farmer Joe Collins’ back yard.
“I had just gotten home about 9 p.m., but I don’t recall anything shaking,” said Collins.
The strength of the quake was considered light with no potential damage capacity, compared to the chimney cracking 5.1 magnitude quake that hit Maysville in July 1980.
The 1980 quake centered in Sharpsburg in Bath County at 5.2 magnitude, a geographic 30 miles away from Maysville, caused an estimated $1-$3 million in damage, and two people were injured in the region, officials said.
Quakes were also noted in the Maysville region in July 2013 at 2.4 magnitude, and May 2015 at 2.5 magnitude.
According to the USGS website, “Most (earthquake) activity in Kentucky has occurred in the western portion of the state, near the New Madrid seismic zone. The series of catastrophic earthquakes at New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811 – 1812, dominates the seismic history of the middle Mississippi Valley.
As early as 1779 an earthquake was reportedly felt in northern Kentucky, officials said.
For more on Kentucky earthquake history go to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/kentucky/history.php and http://kgs.uky.edu/kgsweb/olops/pub/kgs/SP17_12.pdf
Leave a Reply