Magnitude 3.9 earthquake hits Sullivan, MO near St. Louis

Magnitude 3.9 earthquake hits Sullivan, MO near St. Louis

Last night I was awakened around 3:10 AM by a 3.9 magnitude earthquake. It only lasted around 5 seconds or so, but it was enough to wake me up and I am a sound sleeper. At first, with my eyes still closed, I thought Jim was doing Kung Fu in his sleep but I noticed he wasn’t moving and was sleeping soundly. My next thought was an earthquake or I was just dreaming. We woke up and heard that indeed there had been an earthquake last night. Earthquakes are not as common in our area as it is on the West Coast of California, but it is not unheard of either. We have a large fault in the southeast corner of our state. The New Madrid fault lies in what is referred to as the “bootheel” of the state, named by the shape of the state in this area. Luckily, this was a small earthquake with no damage or injuries.

This kind of act of nature does give you pause. Our state, just in the last few months, has had an earthquake, major flooding and several major tornadoes. We are in the middle of a very significant heat wave and our past winter was just wicked. It was extremely cold and we had several more feet of snow than usual. Other parts of the United States and the world are also experiencing these weather extremes and acts of nature. Sort of makes you wonder what is going on doesn’t it??