If you live in the Youngstown area and thought you felt a rumble early Thursday morning, you weren't dreaming.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials have confirmed a 2.6-magnitude earthquake and the first tremor that's ever been recorded in the immediate Youngstown area.
"It's not a big earthquake, but it was certainly enough to be felt," said ODNR geologist Dr. Michael Hansen, a coordinator with the Ohio Seismic Network.
The earthquake was recorded at about 6:53 a.m., said Hansen, and the epicenter was estimated to be about 1.7 miles west of Youngstown State University, or in the vicinity just north of state Route 193 and Interstate 680.
As more data comes in, that location estimate could slightly change, he said. He also said the tremor registered on many of the 25 seismographs across the state.
One New Middletown resident said they thought it was a metal folding chair falling in her home. A Cornersburg resident said they saw and heard aluminum paneling on their wall vibrate for six to seven seconds. And a Lake Milton resident said they thought it was thunder.
"There was definitely some sharp ground motion," said Hansen. "People felt a pretty sharp little jolt."
When Denise McGuire's home on the West Side began to shake, she didn't know what to think.
"It was a big bang, and I yelled at my son upstairs thinking he either dropped something or slammed a door, and he said it wasn't him," McGuire said.
With help from the Internet, she later found out it was an earthquake.
"I just Googled it to see if anyone else felt it, and here it was on Facebook," she said.
There's a lot of attention on the power of earthquakes in the wake of Japan's 9.0 earthquake last week.
"We know that large earthquakes such as Japan can trigger faults in nearby areas, but as far away as we are in Ohio? No," Hansen said.
Hansen said the small earthquake is unusual for this area. While there are sometimes small tremors in areas further north like in Lake County, experiencing them in Youngstown is another story.
"We've never historically had an earthquake in or quite near to Youngstown," he said.
However, Hansen said there's no reason to be alarmed.
"You get quakes like this where one just pops off," he said. "It happens. It doesn't mean there's any impending doom or anything of that sort. They just pop off every once in awhile in places where there was no previous activity."
Information on the rumble was collected from several seismic centers, including at YSU and in western Pennsylvania just over the state line.
The last sizable earthquake close to the Mahoning Valley was a 5.2-magnitude tremor in September 1998 at the south end of Pymatuning Reservoir, said Hansen. In 2000, Alliance felt a 3.0 tremor.
"But I think it points out we have many faults in Ohio that occassionallly generate small quakes," said Hansen. "It's not surprising to have a small earthquake as this one in area where we have not had any previous activity."
