Friday, April 18, 2008

Earthquake in the Midwest!

By now, I'm sure you've heard (or experienced) the 5.6 earthquake in the Midwest. When it came on my news this morning, the reporters indicated it was centered near "West Salem, IL".

I had never heard of "West Salem", but for most of my life my grandparents (my mother's parents) lived in Salem, IL. I found myself wondering if there was a town right next to Salem... or if perhaps "West Salem, IL"... was really "West" of Salem, IL.

I called my mom as I was driving to work. She had felt the quake (it was strong enough to wake her in the middle of the night). She had heard that it was "near" the Indiana/Illinois border.

So I decided to make a map. Here it is:


View Larger Map

Click on the Blue markers for descriptions. You can zoom in and out and scroll the map by click-and dragging.

It turns out that "West Salem, IL"... is EAST of Salem, IL! huh? It also doesn't appear to be anywhere near another Salem, I'm familiar with... Salem, Indiana. So why the heck is the town named "West Salem"?

2 comments:

  1. I didn't feel it although a lot of my co-workers did in Bloomington IL. Some people thought it was storming (wind or hail) and some people woke up thinking somebody had broken into their houses! Sean and I slept right through it!

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  2. I'd just got out of bed when it hit. Had only just put my clothes on to let the dog out for his morning business and I thought it was just a really strong gust of wind. Then I couldn't get the dog to go outside.

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