The worst earthquake in Illinois history occurred on December 17th, 1811. It was so strong that it rang a church bell in a Cairo church in southern Illinois. The natural disaster also blew smoke, sand, and coal 30 yards into the air and made the Mississippi River flow backward momentarily. Alicia Tate Nadeau, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security says that not everyone realizes that Illinois is susceptible to earthquakes because of the New Madrid Seismic Zone on the border with Missouri and the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone on the border of Indiana.
She encourages everyone to be prepared for a quake whether it affects you and your home or not. IEMA-OHS says to drop, cover, and hold on, as the best way to stay safe with earthquakes. Drop down on the floor, take cover under a sturdy desk, table, or other furniture, and hold on to that object until the shaking ends. Find out more at www.shakeout.org/dropcoverholdon/.
According to the Central United States Earthquake Consortium, there are nearly 2,000 small tremors each year in the area. CUSEC has several webinars and meetings available to the public during Earthquake Awareness month which can be found at www.cusec.org.
Find out more information on earthquakes by visiting https://iemaohs.illinois.gov/preparedness/earthquake.html.
