Residents and experts react to the western Kentucky earthquake

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MCLEAN CO., LTD. , Ky. (WFIE) – Originally classified as a magnitude 3.3 earthquake by the USGS, an earthquake confirmed to have occurred just west of Calhoun has now been downgraded to a magnitude 3.0, with aftershocks only minutes after being rated as a 2.5.

They picked it up on the university’s seismograph, says Paul Doss, professor of geology and environmental sciences at USI.

[Previous: USGS reports 3.0 magnitude earthquake near Calhoun]

“Suddenly it was like a ‘kaboom’,” says local resident Philip Dant.

“This is an earthquake that some people may have missed, may not have felt, even relatively close to the epicenter, but some people clearly felt it,” Doss explains.

These included people like Philip Dante, and Curtis Dam, the McLean County Executive Judge.

“I felt like an owl, like a roaring gun,” says Dannet.

The lady says, “I was at home with my wife and son, and I thought a car or a car had hit the side of my house. That was extreme.”

According to the United States Geological Survey, damage usually does not occur until the size is over four or five, and we have not received any reports of damage or injury.

However, Calhoun and other areas in McLean County share a fault system called the Rough Creek System according to Doss.

It’s a system Doss says he’s very familiar with, taking his lessons to see fault in that area regularly.

Dam says he’s very familiar with the USGS through his position as an executive judge, and immediately found that the tremors originated from right behind his house.

“It was a soybean field,” Dam explains, pointing to the location of the alleged epicenter.

Doss notes that the rugged creek system is more than just a single fault line, so an earthquake of varying severity could occur elsewhere in the area.

Meanwhile, the lady says this slight fear has led them to revisit conversations about how to deal with something like a bad earthquake.

“It brings to the forefront of our conversations the need to plan and prepare for when, I hope we’ll never experience it, but a bad event was going to happen,” Dame says.

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