09-11-2006, 10:24 PM
6.0-magnitude quake is eastern Gulfââ¬â¢s largest in 30 years
By Jennifer Brannock
Monday, September 11, 2006
Frequent Naples visitors Jim Krizman and Sue Kalder said they were prepared for the threat of hurricanes when they journeyed south from Detroit.
But earthquakes?
"We used to be really nervous about hurricanes, until we were down here for (Hurricane) Jeanne, and saw it was no big deal," Krizman, 45, said. "Then there was this."
Krizman and Kalder weren't the only ones rattled by the 6.0 earthquake that erupted at 10:56 Sunday morning about 260 miles off the coast of Tampa in the Gulf of Mexico. The rare quake shook homes from Louisiana to Southwest Florida.
Scientists said it was the largest and most widely felt of more than a dozen earthquakes recorded in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in the last 30 years.
Kalder, 45, will certainly remember her vacation adventure at Marco Island's Angler's Cove hotel.
"We were on the fourth floor, and everything just started shaking," she said.
"It felt like someone was shaking the bed," Kalder's boyfriend, Krizman, said. "I didn't know what it was.
"I thought it lasted a little too long to be an earthquake."
Naples police and Collier County Sheriff's officials said they were flooded with phone calls shortly after the earthquake from curious residents.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) agency received more than 2,800 reports from people who felt the tremor.
None reported any damage or injuries, officials said.
USGS officials said the quake was not powerful enough to trigger tsunami danger or other dangerous wave activity.
Indications that any disruption in beach-goers' daily lives could only be noted in their conversations.
At the Naples Pier, word of the quake spread like country club gossip. Though not many residents appeared to have felt the quake, everyone seemed to know someone who did.
La Playa Country Club member Don Hill said he should have been in the right place at the right time to feel the quake. But strangely, Hill said he never felt a thing while sunbathing on Vanderbilt Beach shortly before 11 a.m.
"I heard about it later at about 2:30, and I went up to the beach house to check the news," said Hill of Naples. "We didn't realize there was a fault in the Gulf that could cause this, but apparently, there is."
At the seven-story tall Madrid Club condominiums, on Gulf Shore Drive, resident Ron Pennington said neither he nor his neighbors were aware of the earthquake.
"I was very surprised, because I never felt a thing," he said. "We've all been talking about it, but no one felt anything."
Residents had the opportunity to visit the USGS Web site to report the quake. About 30 Naples residents reported they felt some activity. Two Ochopee residents also reported feeling the tremor.
Though county residents buzzed about the event, none seemed to fear future tremors. That is a wise attitude to have, said Don Blakeman, an earthquake analyst with the USGS National Earthquake Information Center
"This is a fairly unique event," Blakeman said. "There is no danger."
Earthquakes are more common than most people think, USGS officials said. Information about them is fairly obscure, because most are too small or too far away from land to be noticed.
Sunday's earthquake was unusual because it was not centered on a known fault line. The "midplate" earthquake, deep under the Gulf, was probably the result of stresses generated by the interaction of distant tectonic plates in the earth's crust, the agency said.
The most prevalent vibration felt Sunday, which lasted about 20 seconds, was felt on the Gulf coast of Florida and in southern Georgia, Blakeman said. But residents in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana also called in reports.
Scientists recorded a magnitude 5.2 tremor in the same location Feb. 10.
Only one of Florida's rare earthquakes caused damage. In January 1879, St. Augustine residents reported heavy shaking that knocked plaster off the walls and sent items tumbling off shelves.
é 2006 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/sep/...local_news
By Jennifer Brannock
Monday, September 11, 2006
Frequent Naples visitors Jim Krizman and Sue Kalder said they were prepared for the threat of hurricanes when they journeyed south from Detroit.
But earthquakes?
"We used to be really nervous about hurricanes, until we were down here for (Hurricane) Jeanne, and saw it was no big deal," Krizman, 45, said. "Then there was this."
Krizman and Kalder weren't the only ones rattled by the 6.0 earthquake that erupted at 10:56 Sunday morning about 260 miles off the coast of Tampa in the Gulf of Mexico. The rare quake shook homes from Louisiana to Southwest Florida.
Scientists said it was the largest and most widely felt of more than a dozen earthquakes recorded in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in the last 30 years.
Kalder, 45, will certainly remember her vacation adventure at Marco Island's Angler's Cove hotel.
"We were on the fourth floor, and everything just started shaking," she said.
"It felt like someone was shaking the bed," Kalder's boyfriend, Krizman, said. "I didn't know what it was.
"I thought it lasted a little too long to be an earthquake."
Naples police and Collier County Sheriff's officials said they were flooded with phone calls shortly after the earthquake from curious residents.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) agency received more than 2,800 reports from people who felt the tremor.
None reported any damage or injuries, officials said.
USGS officials said the quake was not powerful enough to trigger tsunami danger or other dangerous wave activity.
Indications that any disruption in beach-goers' daily lives could only be noted in their conversations.
At the Naples Pier, word of the quake spread like country club gossip. Though not many residents appeared to have felt the quake, everyone seemed to know someone who did.
La Playa Country Club member Don Hill said he should have been in the right place at the right time to feel the quake. But strangely, Hill said he never felt a thing while sunbathing on Vanderbilt Beach shortly before 11 a.m.
"I heard about it later at about 2:30, and I went up to the beach house to check the news," said Hill of Naples. "We didn't realize there was a fault in the Gulf that could cause this, but apparently, there is."
At the seven-story tall Madrid Club condominiums, on Gulf Shore Drive, resident Ron Pennington said neither he nor his neighbors were aware of the earthquake.
"I was very surprised, because I never felt a thing," he said. "We've all been talking about it, but no one felt anything."
Residents had the opportunity to visit the USGS Web site to report the quake. About 30 Naples residents reported they felt some activity. Two Ochopee residents also reported feeling the tremor.
Though county residents buzzed about the event, none seemed to fear future tremors. That is a wise attitude to have, said Don Blakeman, an earthquake analyst with the USGS National Earthquake Information Center
"This is a fairly unique event," Blakeman said. "There is no danger."
Earthquakes are more common than most people think, USGS officials said. Information about them is fairly obscure, because most are too small or too far away from land to be noticed.
Sunday's earthquake was unusual because it was not centered on a known fault line. The "midplate" earthquake, deep under the Gulf, was probably the result of stresses generated by the interaction of distant tectonic plates in the earth's crust, the agency said.
The most prevalent vibration felt Sunday, which lasted about 20 seconds, was felt on the Gulf coast of Florida and in southern Georgia, Blakeman said. But residents in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana also called in reports.
Scientists recorded a magnitude 5.2 tremor in the same location Feb. 10.
Only one of Florida's rare earthquakes caused damage. In January 1879, St. Augustine residents reported heavy shaking that knocked plaster off the walls and sent items tumbling off shelves.
é 2006 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/sep/...local_news
