United States Geological Survey, Courtesy
COWLES — If residents in Cowles or along the Republican River felt the ground shifting on Monday, Sept. 18, it was not their imagination.
The United States Geological Survey reported that a 2.6 magnitude earthquake took place around 9:30 a.m. in the eastern area of Webster County, or six miles of east of Cowles – a community of 30 south of Hastings.
There were no known reports of damage associated with the earthquake.
According to the NSGS, areas east of the Rocky Mountains experience infrequent earthquakes.
Earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains, although less frequent than in the West, are typically felt over a much broader region than earthquakes of similar magnitude in the west.
Most earthquakes in North America east of the Rockies occur as faulting within bedrock, usually miles deep.
“East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area more than ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast. It would not be unusual for a magnitude 4.0 earthquake in eastern or central North America to be felt by a significant percentage of the population in many communities more than 100 km (60 mi) from its source,” per the NSGS.
