Chapter Hazard Analysis

Recent Earthquakes Felt in Illinois

Richter	Date	Epicenter
5.0	May 10, 1987	Near Lawrenceville IL
4.5	Sep. 28, 1989	15 miles south of Cairo, IL
4.7	Apr. 27, 1989	15 miles SW of Caruthersville, MO
4.6	Sep. 26, 1990	10 miles south of Cape Girardeau, MO
4.6	May 3, 1991	10 miles west of New Madrid, MO
4.2	Feb. 5, 1994	Lick Creek-Goreville Area
Source: Illinois Hazard Mitigation Plan 2000

requency: About 200 earth­quakes happen each year in the New Madrid seismic zone, but most are too small to be felt by people. The larger ones are listed in the table to the right. None of these caused much damage in the affected areas of the state.

Small earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 3.0 to 5.0 on the Richter scale occur about once every 20 years in Kane County. The most significant of these was the May 26, 1909 quake described on the previous page.

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