A small jolt rocked Wickliffe Thursday though few people felt the earth tremble.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Ohio Seismic Network system of 25 remote sensing stations detected a magnitude 2.1 earthquake, striking at 12:44 p.m. at a depth of about 3 miles.
It also was the first earthquake recorded in Ohio for 2010.
By comparison, the recent Haitian earthquake was a magnitude 7.0 event; 729 billion times more powerful, scientists say.
Mike Hansen, the Network’s coordinator and state geologist, said he contacted the Wickliffe Police Department, which said a resident near the intersection of Ridgeview and Twin Lakes drives called to report a “boom” along with the house shaking.
“That location is fairly close to, and just south of, the computed epicenter,” Hansen said.
“The fact that it occurred inland and not out below the lake is probably why it was felt. That happens when people are awake and the earthquake happens in a populated area.”
However, the Wickliffe event is about 17 miles to the west and south of a cluster of small earthquakes that were centered off Mentor from 1992 through 2006.
“We did have another one in 1999 that was off Eastlake and centered under Lake Erie, so the latest earthquake is fairly close but still not in an area where we’ve had previous earthquakes,” Hansen said.
He also said the last earthquake to shake the Lake County area occurred Oct. 29, 2009, offshore from Painesville. That event measured 2.4 magnitude.
To record this latest event, if felt, the public is encouraged to record the information by accessing the Ohio Seismic Network’s Web site at www.ohiodnr.com/OhioSeis.
