Earthquake - 3.0 M - SOUTH DAKOTA

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[Keith in Iowa]

3.0 M - SOUTH DAKOTA

Preliminary Earthquake Report

Magnitude	3.0 M
Date-Time	16 Jan 2012 13:41:10 UTC 16 Jan 2012 06:41:10 near epicenter 16 Jan 2012 07:41:10 standard time in your timezone
Location	43.446N 103.051W
Depth	5 km
Distances	22 km (14 miles) ESE (104 degrees) of Buffalo Gap, SD 30 km (18 miles) SSE (154 degrees) of Fairburn, SD 33 km (20 miles) NNE (27 degrees) of Oelrichs, SD 362 km (225 miles) NNE (27 degrees) of Fort Collins, CO 443 km (275 miles) NNE (20 degrees) of Denver, CO
Location Uncertainty	Horizontal: 13.5 km; Vertical
Parameters	Nph = 9; Dmin = 109.2 km; Rmss = 1.21 seconds; Gp = 151° M-type = M; Version = 7
Event ID	US 2012vva8

For updates, maps, and technical information, see:
Event Page
or
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

National Earthquake Information Center
U.S. Geological Survey
http://neic.usgs.gov/

Disclaimer

[Elsie]

OOOooooh!

Did the earth move for you, too?

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"A 3 for example is ten times as strong as a 2."

Not an uncommon misunderstanding. The magnitude scale is really comparing amplitudes of waves on a seismogram, not the strength or energy of the quakes.

So, a magnitude 3.0 is 10 times bigger than a 2.0 earthquake as measured on seismograms, but the 3.0 quake is about 31.6 times stronger than the 2.0.

Since it is really the energy or strength that knocks down buildings, this is really the more important comparison.

[Godzilla]

Need to go further west to the Rocky Mountains :)