More than 200 earthquakes have been recorded in Ohio, with two experienced this year
(Editor's note: the following entry is provided by the History of Akron & Summit County. Visit www.akronhistory.org for more information.)
I mentioned in a previous post that the Precambrian layer of rock has no economic value and is so far below us that we really need not be too concerned about it. That is not entirely true. Occasionally it does make an impact on us, and when it does, it usually leads on the news. It is the Precambrian layer of rock that contains the faults that cause the rare earthquakes felt here in Summit County and Ohio.
The rifting that took place millions of years ago broke up the very lowest layer of rock and today we feel the multi-state sized pieces as they move against each other.
The faults often move more than we feel, but the shock waves are absorbed in the layers of rock between the surface and the Precambrian formation. The strong, major earthquakes that are felt in California and other parts of the world are where whole continental plates are colliding or pulling apart with and from each other.
We can't feel a quake lower than a magnitude 2.0, so they do not normally make any lists of earthquakes.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Ohio Division of Geological Survey (ODGS), Ohio Seismic Network (OhioSeis), and multiple colleges and universities, monitor and study seismic activity in Ohio. The nearest seismograph is located at Kent State University. The ODNR has been recording seismic activity since 1838.
Before, and since, then they also rely on written accounts of damage.
Below is a list of the five earthquakes that are listed by the ODNR that have occurred in Summit County:
1/18/1885- 3.5, centered under the old Hardy Road landfill in Northampton
2/11/1888- 3.4, centered under the Firestone Country Club near Portage Lakes
5/26/1955- 3.3, technically Cuyahoga County, but right on the county line, near Brandywine Ski Resort
12/25/1998- 2.8, centered under the Village of Silver Lake
5/17/2010- 2.5, centered under Boston Heights
Though the center of seismic activity has a definite location, it has nothing to do with surface geology or use (note the finest country club and the worst landfill), and it can be felt on a regional basis.
The "big one," the only earthquake that I have ever felt, and the one that most people recall feeling, did not originate in Summit County, but was centered on the Lake/Geauga County line. It was a 5.0 quake, back on Jan. 31, 1986. That was also the day of Judith Resnik's funeral, and a lot people thought the tremor was "more military jets flying low overhead." I thought it was a large heavy truck passing outside. We were all surprised when we heard or saw the news later.
According to ODNR lists, there have been a total of 208 earthquakes in Ohio between 1776 and 2010, and two so far this year, both in Youngstown. The USGS estimates that there is a less than 2 percent chance that we in Summit County will face a major, magnitude 5 or greater, earthquake in the next 50 years.
