Hi Robert. During the last two centuries earthquakes with epicenters in Indiana have been relatively minor events. This has not always been the case. Indiana University archaeologists Pat Munson and Cheryl Munson and U.S. Geological Survey geologist Steve Obermeier have found hundreds of ancient sandblows that suggest the occurrence of at least 6 major earthquakes with epicenters in Indiana during the last 12,000 years. The largest of these quakes appears to have had an epicenter near Vincennes and has been estimated to have been many times more powerful than the quake that struck the Los Angeles area in January 1994.

Studies have revealed that rifting apparently began about 600 million years ago beneath the present Mississippi River valley. Although the rift, called the Reelfoot Rift, failed to completely rupture the crust, the pulling apart of the rocks caused the formation of a zone of weakness in the Earth’s crust. As the North American plate pushes against the Pacific plate, compressional forces are probably causing stress on these weakened rocks, which is occasionally relieved when the rocks slip past each other during an earthquake. Many earthquakes have occurred in the Reelfoot Rift in a region known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

No one can say with any certainty when or if an earthquake strong enough to cause significant property damage, injury, or loss of life in Indiana will occur. However, considering the prehistoric evidence of strong earthquakes with epicenters within Indiana, the history of earthquakes that have caused damage in Indiana since 1811, and the presence of compressional forces squeezing the rocks at great depths under the state, it is reasonable to conclude that there is indeed a possibility of a potentially devastating effects of a major earthquake at some point in the future. Take Care…Don in creepy town