Closer to home is the Ramapo Fault Zone, which stretches from New York through New Jersey to Pennsylvania and was most active millions of years ago during the formation of the Appalachian Mountains. The quake was felt widely throughout the state and even as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada. There, the Devonian (red on the section) and Mississippian (light blue on the section) strata appear to split upward on the eastern (right) side of the diagram. View the KGS World Wide Web site at: www.uky.edu/kgs. This 150 mile-long series of faults stretches under five states: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, and is responsible for four of the largest earthquakes in the history of the United States, which took place over three months from December 1811 and February 1812. A compiled set of FAULT features for the state of Kentucky as digitized by the Geospatial Analysis Section, Digital Mapping Team. No major damage was reported, although numerous cracks and water leaks appeared in homes in Hardinsburg. (photo by Edward Nuhfer), Homes constructed in areas of steep slopes can cause earth movements if not properly planned, as shown in the photographs above and below. structure, about midway between Louisville and Lexington (sheet 2), is 14,000 ft in diameter. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/place/New-Madrid-Seismic-Zone, Missouri Department of Natural Resources - Facts about the New Madrid Seismic Zone. New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), region of poorly understood, deep-seated faults in Earths crust that zigzag southwest-northeast through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky, U.S. Radon gas, although not widely distributed in Kentucky in amounts above the Environmental Protection Agency's maximum recommended limit of 4 picocuries per liter, can be a local problem. The surface traces of faults are shown as black line segments on the geologic map, and offsets along some of the major faults are shown in the block diagram. The quake woke a lot of people in the northeast up to the Virginia Seismic Zone (VSZ) below the Mason Dixon and the consequential effects it could have on major cities along the East Coast. The Pine Mountain overthrust fault brings Devonian and younger rocks Most of this data has been summarized by McGuire and California experiences thousands of earthquakes each year, many of which cause moderate to significant damage. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). More Pennsylvanian strata are preserved south of these faults than north of the faults. or post-Paleozoic movement. The threat is so great, the BBC even did a nifty video on the potential MegaQuake threat. Output includes the KY county and KY 1:24,000 quadrangle where the coordinate is located and links to map views. thisYr = thisYr + 1900; When strata moves along a fault an earthquake occurs. 16). 141 0 obj <>stream Major structural elements within the basin in Kentucky are the Rough The epicenter was in the vicinity of New Madrid, Modifications to the landscape require careful planning to mitigate negative impacts. The USDA-NRCS can provide guidance on the application of these liners to new construction, and for treatment of existing leaking ponds. Don't search a large area this way, it takes too long. downward as much as 200 ft. States located along the Madrid Fault Line include Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. reports indicate that, although the most severe earthquakes (New Madrid type) may occur only every The most recent major earthquake in Ky was the M4. The Kentucky River fault system has been extended eastward, The 9. Amos, 1984). 1 magnitude earthquake occurred in the state of California on July 5, 2019. 0000001185 00000 n considerably more data, report a close correlation between gravity anomalies and basement lithology: The Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district, at the west end of the Moorman syncline, is a structurally complex Denison and others (1984, fig. major structural features, and tectonic history, including age of deformation where known. An Equal Opportunity University. suggest that the Waverly arch represents the position of this migratory arch during Beekmantown (Early Map via USGS 1. We are currently working on a solution for this issue. Did you know record earthquakes have rocked Kentucky? Dams should be constructed of compacted clayey soils at slopes flatter than 3 units horizontal to 1 unit vertical. They maintain that the erosion of surface material in the region allowed the upward force of warmer, expanding rocks below to overcome the weight of the remaining rocks above. may have originated much earlier, however: Schwalb (1969, p. 9) identified a Cambrian-Ordovician basin of In the photo above, one can see that rocks on one side of the break in strata are different than rocks on the other side. (Photographs by Paul Howell, USDA-NRCS. It is a domal structure, about 2 mi in diameter and unfaulted Six states that are most at risk for earthquakes are Alaska, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Pennsylvanian unconformity. which they call the Rough Creek graben. Although the number and exact location of fault lines in Kentucky is still being studied and mapped, it is believed that the 16 known fault zones were formed as glaciers receded and shifted landforms in the area. does not extend westward of the Lexington fault zone. University of Kentucky. Where this occurs, minor unmapped faults may be encountered. Cryptoexplosive structures: J, Jeptha Knob; MO, Middlesboro; MU, Muldraugh dome; V, Versailles. The zone of radiating faults in far western Kentucky adjacent to the Tertiary strata are part of the Fluorspar District. It was the first major earthquake in California since the 6. 0 earthquake. The Pennyrile fault system (Green River fault zone of Lidiak Solid lines indicate fault traces. in western Kentucky (the Rough Creek graben of Soderberg and Keller (1981) and the Mississippi This function will create two bookmark links to save the current map layout with or without the current extent: These basemaps are displayed above the ESRI basemaps. 2 that took place near Cawood in 1909. sedimentation, the Reelfoot basin, in roughly the same position, and Cressman (1973, p. 57) interpreted Seismologists say we can expect the next one any day now. Fun times! Weir and others, 1984), though Borella and Osborne (1978) suggested that the area of the Jessamine dome Butler County - Morgantown. northeastern Kentucky (Dever and others, 1977). Rock excavation is often required to sufficiently bury these pipelines. Both sides of the Illinois Basin are preserved in western Kentucky, which is why the Pennsylvanian strata on the geologic map have a roughly circular pattern surrounded by Mississippian strata. A compacted clay liner, or artificial liner, may prevent pond failure. How likely is Kentucky to have an earthquake? Ordovician inception of the arch in Kentucky, the geologic quadrangle mapping has shown no features of The oldest rocks at the surface in the State occur in central Kentucky, because older rock strata is pushed upward along a broad bulge, called the Cincinnati Arch, which in Kentucky, stretches from Covington in the north, to just west of Dale Hollow Lake in the south. Caldwell County - Princeton. *0 ! summarized the available gravity, magnetic, seismic refraction, and petrologic data for Kentucky and USGS The USGS has a faults website that includes an interactive fault map that allows users to views a map. The basin In addition, Keller and others (1982) The hard dolomite of the Boyle formation was undercut by weathering of the softer shale of the Crab Orchard Formation, which caused the dolomite to fracture and fall. The downbow causes Ordovician rocks, which occur at the surface in central Kentucky, to be depressed beneath the surface more than 3,000 feet in the eastern Kentucky part of the Appalachian Basin, and more than 4,000 feet beneath the surface in the Illinois Basin of western Kentucky. labeled on the geologic map, but it appears as a small, round outcrop area of the Muldraugh Member of the thisYr = now.getYear(); However, there is evidence that Kentucky may be experiencing a spike in seismic activity since 2009, with more frequent tremors occurring throughout the state. digital geologic map information service, 310 Columbia Ave, 228 Mining and Mineral Resources Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107. Topographical changes resulting from the earthquakes included fissures, landslides, subsidence (sinking) and upheavals, soil liquefaction, the creation and destruction of lakes and swamps, and the wasting of forests. sparse data on samples from the nine basement test wells. The downbow in western Kentucky is part of the Illinois (also called Eastern Interior) Basin, which extends into Illinois and Indiana. Originally, the network provided a group of geologists who served as resource persons for teachers. This structure is not Earthquakes still occur on these faults, but most are so small that they are barely felt. endstream endobj 134 0 obj <>]/PageLabels 122 0 R/Pages 125 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 135 0 obj <>/Font<>>>/Fields[]>> endobj 136 0 obj <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/Type/Page>> endobj 137 0 obj <> endobj 138 0 obj <>stream Likewise, movement along a fault plane is not always uniform, so the amount of offset may change laterally. It is responsible for several of the fault lines that run through New York City, including one under 125thStreet. What are gas prices at Buc EEs in Richmond KY? Heavy equipment is used to clean up a rock fall between Richmond and Irvine on Highway 52. suggesting a "crypto-volcanic" nature. According to aNew York Postreport in 2017, On average, the region has witnessed a moderate quake (about a 5.0 on the Richter scale) every hundred years. Without remedial measures, the house will actually become deformed and shatter masonry and windows. Major changes in a coals apparent elevation in core and old mine maps provide hints of possible faulting and offset (although sometimes errors in underground mine-map elevations can lead to apparent offsets between mines, which are not real). (Photographs by Paul Howell, USDA-NRCS.). Show in Google Earth or other KML viewer: https://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/sgmc2 (WMS, version 1.3.0), https://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/wfs/sgmc2 (WFS, version 1.1.0), Preliminary integrated geologic map databases for the United States : Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia, Detailed report of standardization procedures, Methods used to create several styles for lithology or geologic time. ), and was discovered in the late 1960s. If a quake of that magnitude were to occur, it would result in widespread damage across much of the midwestern states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. bounded rift zone which is responsible for the relatively high level of modern seismic activity in the New These faults roughly parallel the trend of the Cincinnati Arch and are related to the origin of the stresses that upbowed the Arch, deep beneath the surface of Kentucky. The closest tectonic plate to Kentucky is the North American Plate, which runs along the east coast of the United States and covers most of North and Central America. This map shows the major fault lines in the US! FIGURE 15.--Structural setting of the eastern midcontinent. Hawaii sits atop the Ring of Fire and experiences around 900 earthquakes each year. The Kentucky Building and Residential Codes (Fig. Omissions? Which 6 states are most at risk for these earthquakes? While the majority of these earthquakes were of a low magnitude, some of them caused significant damage. The faults shown on the Madison County map represent seismic activity that occurred several million years ago at the latest. Where faults are small and entries are advanced through the fault or ramped into coals on the other side of the fault, supplemental support may be needed, depending on the rock type and strength of the roof on either side of the fault. if (thisYr < 1900) { subsurface of eastern Kentucky. Contact the Kentucky Division of Water, 14 Reilly Road, Frankfort, KY 40601, telephone: 502-564-3410. There are at least 16 known fault lines in Kentucky, with many more that have yet to be mapped and studied. Although some reports indicate an Early Despite these studies, the seismic activity in Kentucky remains relatively low in comparison to other areas of the United States, and there is no evidence that highly destructive seismic activity is likely in the near future. inactive ancient rift zone now recognized in the subsurface there (Hinze and others, 1980). hb```">&S ac`a8 _o9j{VkL*1{|icPGEO&u\w:=q$O\S-9 T ` ` @@ vfb3"|$2f b v` rY lY`a609060 `@X vH;3b :k0\U\(C&0@u0 FV\s In the end, some 3,000 to 5,000 square miles (7,800 to 13,000 square km) were visibly scarred with the effects. Rock movement along fault lines might be reactivated during an earthquake. 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