According to USGS, a relatively mild earthquake rattled portions of northeastern Kentucky during the overnight hours in a rural location southeast of Cincinnati, Ohio. The earthquake struck at 12:44 am this morning during the overnight hours from a depth of 10.8 km; it was rated a magnitude 2.5 event and was centered near the town of Flemingsburg, which is also due east of Louisville. While some reported to USGS they felt shaking or heard earthquake noises, there were no reports of damage or injuries nor would one expect any at this magnitude.
USGS says that earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0 , more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.
Today’s earthquake struck outside of the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), which is an area of significant seismic unrest located near New Madrid, Missouri and western Kentucky. While many earthquakes have rattled western Kentucky by the NMSZ, USGS reports there have been no other earthquakes of any magnitude around today’s epicenter for the last 3 weeks…