Strange Quake Shakes Illinois/Kentucky Border on Friday

I keep a close eye on earthquakes in the Missouri and Illinois region and that normally means I'm referring to New Madrid Fault activity. This is something completely different. A strange quake shook the border between Illinois and Kentucky on Friday and was large enough that it was felt.

I immediately knew something was different when I did my daily morning check of the USGS earthquake page. Their map showed a tremor in an area where I rarely see quakes. It was centered not far from this bridge which connects Illinois and Kentucky.

According to the USGS, a 2.4 magnitude quake happened right on the Illinois/Kentucky border just 8 minutes after midnight super early Friday morning, July 25 and was reportedly felt.

What earthquake fault caused this minor Illinois/Kentucky area quake?

This is activity from the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone. What many don't realize is that this fault in Illinois is capable of an earthquake nearly as destructive as estimates for the biggest New Madrid Fault quake with something as strong as a 7 magnitude potential. This earthquake fault has been unusually active over the past few months with several measurable earthquakes. that does NOT mean that a major event is imminent or even likely, but it is a seismically-active region that needs to be watched. You never know when the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone might ruin the day for all of us.