Officials Urge Residents To Check For Damage After 4.2 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Michigan
KALAMAZOO (CBS DETROIT) - Kalamazoo residents are asked to check for earthquake damage after Saturday's 4.2 magnitude quake.
Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey, said an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2 and a depth of focus of 5.9 km was measured around 12:23 p.m. about nine miles southeast of Kalamazoo, near Galesburg.
Undersheriff Paul Matyas told residents to check for any gas lines that may break and noted there have been a lot of cracked walls in homes and businesses.
"It's still the talk of the town, the whole community here, everyone is telling their story about where they were when the great earthquake hit, but it shook us pretty good for a 4.2 - we had a lot of shaking, rattling and rolling going on here," said Matyas.
And, Matyas had a story himself ... he said he was on a ladder to his roof when the quake hit and says he had to "hold on for dear life."
Dozens of residents in several different regions beyond Kalamazoo — from Mount Pleasant and Sterling Heights to Lansing and even as far as Cleveland, Ohio — called the WWJ Newsroom Saturday and reported feeling a rumble and the ground shake for between five and 10 seconds.
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"Earthquakes of this magnitude are very rare in Michigan," Caruso told WWJ's Russ McNamara. "We've had reports from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio of people feeling this earthquake."