News releases

April 18, 2008

TO: Reporters, news directors
FROM: University Communications, (608) 262-3571
RE: SEISMOMETER IMAGE CAPTURED FROM THIS MORNING'S MIDWEST EARTHQUAKE

A University of Wisconsin-Madison geology department seismometer in Weeks Hall recorded the tremors of a southern Illinois earthquake that shook many areas of the Midwest this morning.

A downloadable image of the seismometer readout is available at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/newsphotos/earthquake_041808.html

Centered six miles from the town of West Salem in southern Illinois, the 4:40 a.m. quake had a magnitude of 5.2 and lasted for roughly a minute. It was followed by a sizable aftershock at 10:15 am that was also felt in Madison and Milwaukee, according to UW-Madison geologists.

For more information about the earthquake, please contact geologist and seismology expert Cliff Thurber at (608) 262-6027, clifft@geology.wisc.edu.

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