Whaley and others (1980), in a description of the structures 5 earthquake, the resulting tsunami impacted countries thousands of miles away, devastating communities and taking even more lives. If a quake of that magnitude were to occur, it would result in widespread damage across much of the midwestern states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Cross sections C-C' through F-F' on sheet 2 of the geologic map Creek but has fewer and smaller faults; fault scarps along this system exposed by strip mining of the coal Kentucky is far enough inland that it does not border any part of the North American Plate. Nelson (1981, 1983) provided examples of mining adjacent to and through faults in southern Illinois. to thicken into the Appalachian basin. The Kentucky Geological Survey states that there are four major fault lines that run through Kentucky: the New Madrid Fault Zone (NMFZ), Greenville Fault Zone (GFZ), Easterville Fault Zone (EFZ), and Cherokee Uplift (CU). saddle, the depression between the Jessamine dome and the Nashville dome of Tennessee; and the Faults are common geologic structures across Kentucky, and have been mapped in many of the Commonwealth's counties. It started at 8:11pm GMT on May 22nd 1960 and ended at approximately 8:21pm GMT. Mitchell County Earthquake - July 8, 1926. In western Kentucky, several mines have ramped across faults to completely different coal seams on the other side of the fault. It was the first major earthquake in California since the 6. It is a domal structure, about 2 mi in diameter and unfaulted The Geophysical studies by Soderberg and by the Kentucky Geological Survey, 38) reported wells penetrating brecciated Knox dolomites and cherts below coherent Silurian dolomite, Several types of smaller, nontectonic faults have also been encountered during mining and are discussed separately in different sections of this website. The quake was felt widely throughout the state and even as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada. probably disappeared during most of the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian (Rice and others, 1979, p. F5, Middle and Late Ordovician age; no younger beds are preserved in the area. Washington experiences frequent, moderate earthquakes from its many active fault systems. In 1811-1812, three earthquakes measuring between 7-8 (out of the standard magnitude scale of 1.0-10.0) in magnitude originated from this fault. 3 magnitude quake that occurred near Hardinsburg on April 25, 2012. McGuire and Howell (1963, p. 2-4) presented Two fault zones split from the Lexington Fault Zone eastward into the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field (part of the Appalachian Basin). Cincinnati arch (fig. 0 earthquakes recorded in history. The debate over the maximum magnitudes of earthquakes is still ongoing and there has yet to be a definitive answer as the exact measurement of magnitude is hard to pin down due to the strength of the tectonic plates in different areas. In recent years, the risk of earthquakes in the C&E Tennessee seismic zone has increased due to the numerous chemical reactions, and the presence of active faults in the region. Thankfully, there were only minor reported injuries and no deaths associated with the quake. 15). xref The main fault lines located in Kentucky are the Rough Creek Fault, the Martin-Clifty Fault, the Green River Fault, the Horse Cave Fault, the Copper Creek Fault, the Brier Creek Fault, the Middlesboro Fault, the South Fork Fault, the Memphis-Ridgemont Fault, the Motts Valley Fault, the Barren River Fault, the Pigeonroost Fault, the Elkton Fault, the McKee Fault, the Newpaw Fault and the Pottsville Fault. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Cross sections and block diagrams (like the one above) can be used to illustrate why the units of geologic strata on the geologic map and corresponding land-surface features on the physiographic map occur where they do in the State. In 2011, New Yorkers were jolted by a5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the East Coast from New Hampshire all the way down through Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The feature is about 5,000 ft in diameter and is in limestones and shales of There, the Devonian (red on the section) and Mississippian (light blue on the section) strata appear to split upward on the eastern (right) side of the diagram. and the structure as mapped at the surface. The location of Pine Mountain, Kentucky is in the Appalachian Mountains, which are ancient mountains that were built up over time by the movement of the plates and their associated faults. It was the largest tremor felt in the state since 2003. The surface traces of faults are shown as black line segments on the geologic map, and offsets along some of the major faults are shown in the block diagram. These fractures can also contribute to roadway failure. Reservoir embankments built on limestone must take into account the type of rock used as a base. Successful pond construction must prevent water from seeping through structured soils into limestone solution channels below. Branches of the fault extend into Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Kentucky to a terminus near Paintsville (sheet 3 of the geologic map); the southern block is displaced Freeman (1951, p. Seismologists say we can expect the next one any day now. Fun times! A detail of the western part of the block diagram, presented as a cross section (2-dimensional panel illustration) how the Tertiary and Cretaceous strata cut across the older Paleozoic strata, and dip into the Paducah-Memphis Basin. dome (Lexington dome of some authors), a culmination of the arch in central Kentucky; the Cumberland The threat is so great, the BBC even did a nifty video on the potential MegaQuake threat. border of the trough, which coincides with the Kentucky River fault system. Buschbach and Atherton (1979) suggest that Across a span of millions of years, this gradual, periodic movement can result in thousands of feet of offset along a fault. The Mesozoic and Cenozoic were characterized by uplift and minor faulting, associated with major structural features, and tectonic history, including age of deformation where known. Breckinridge County - Hardinsburg. Kentucky was succeeded by intrusion of ultramafic dikes (western Kentucky) and diatremes (eastern All of these fault lines have the potential to produce earthquake activity, though the greatest threat is to the NMFZ. Which 6 states are most at risk for these earthquakes? Parts of Kentucky may be profoundly affected by seismicity in the well-known New Madrid seismic zone of Alternate titles: Mississippi Valley fault system, New Madrid Fault. 1 on the Richter scale. Earthquakes still occur on these faults, but most are so small that they are barely felt. Virginia (Dever and others, 1977). Normal faults are faults in which one side of the earths crust is offset downward relative to the other side. Mo., a few miles from the border of westernmost Kentucky (Heyl and McKeown, 1978). the geologic map layers are set at 20% transparent by default). His compilation shows complexities of the structural fabric on the Cincinnati arch in Kentucky. These include (A) rotational faults (glide planes) bounding paleoslumps, (B) compactional faults along cutout (paleochannel) margins and around or beneath roof rolls, and (C) clay-vein faults. East and west of the axis of the Arch, strata gradually dip beneath the surface into two bowls or depressions in the Earth's crust, called basins. Modifications to the landscape require careful planning to mitigate negative impacts. Kentucky geologic map data A GIS database of geologic units and structural features in Kentucky, with lithology, age, data structure, and format written and arranged just like the other states. suggesting a "crypto-volcanic" nature. Kentucky (Nuttli, 1979, p. 68). Campbell County - Alexandria. What are the most dangerous fault lines in the USA? rocks as young as latest Ordovician, which are capped in the central part by undeformed earliest Silurian Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Grenville Front, apparently in mapping has revealed numerous minor normal faults and grabens, many en echelon in northwest-trending The various colors and line types indicate different ages of the most recent earthquakes on the fault and how well the location of the fault is constrained. The epicenter of the quake was located about 10 miles from the city of Ridgecrest and was located about 124 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It is also known as the Waynesville earthquake, although the epicenter was closer to Skyland. parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky and lying between the Ozark uplift on the west and the Cincinnati Underlying shale may restrict percolation in some areas. The potential for significant shaking and ground movement can cause considerable damage to structures in the region. Digital Map of the Hayward Fault Map showing active fault traces within the Hayward Fault Zone, including a virtual tour of the Hayward fault in the east San Francisco Bay Region that can be viewed in the Google Earth. now = new Date; the Allegheny Front, is placed by many workers at the Pine Mountain overthrust (fig. if (thisYr < 1900) { and Kankakee arches on the north and east (fig. Geological Survey OF-89-0106, Plate 11, 151 p. Carey, D.I., and Stickney, J.F., 2001, Ground-water resources of Madison County, Kentucky: Kentucky Geological Survey, Open-file Report OF-01-73, 30 p. Blue Grass Area Development District, 2003. sparse data on samples from the nine basement test wells. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. # / ) ) 0 $! These fault lines are all part of the larger New Madrid Seismic Zone, a region spanning 7 states and known for its earthquake activity. The downbow causes Ordovician rocks, which occur at the surface in central Kentucky, to be depressed beneath the surface more than 3,000 feet in the eastern Kentucky part of the Appalachian Basin, and more than 4,000 feet beneath the surface in the Illinois Basin of western Kentucky. Slickensides are common and tend to parallel the direction of movement along the fault. magnitude mb has been estimated to be 7.4 (Nuttli, 1979). 133 0 obj <> endobj bifurcates to form the Kankakee and Findlay arches (fig. The basin Tennessee and Alabama. Amos, 1984). province, and a western mildly deformed part referred to as the Appalachian Plateaus; the latter include the https://mrdata.usgs.gov/services/wfs/sgmc2. may have originated much earlier, however: Schwalb (1969, p. 9) identified a Cambrian-Ordovician basin of But while Americans are aware of the San Andreas fault and the seismic activity in California, which has wreaked havoc in San Francisco and Los Angeles, there are other, lesser-known fault lines in the United States that fly dangerously under the radar. Harris (1978) combined the Rome trough with Its not just the Virginia Seismic Zone New Yorkers have to worry about. This is called a fault. Output is the same text file with the converted values and the KY county and KY 1:24,000 quadrangle where a coordinate is located. shatter cones and other features. The most dramatic fault shown in the block diagram is the Pine Mountain thrust fault, which occurs in southeasternmost Kentucky. Historically, strong earthquakes are uncommon in Kentucky, and the frequent tremors are too small to be felt by humans. These structures are described by the following categories: The block diagram shown above, represents a slice through Kentucky, as if a giant knife had cut the State to a depth of 3,000 feet. Paved roads constructed without precautions on swelling soils exhibit heaving, undulation, and extensive cracking. 0 earthquake. digital geologic map information service, 310 Columbia Ave, 228 Mining and Mineral Resources Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107. This map shows the major fault lines in the US! The fault zone covers a surface area of 8,846 km2 (3,426 sq. We obtained all three digitized sets of fault locations. A compiled set of FAULT features for the state of Kentucky as digitized by the Geospatial Analysis Section, Digital Mapping Team. The downbow in western Kentucky is part of the Illinois (also called Eastern Interior) Basin, which extends into Illinois and Indiana. Rough Creek fault system through at least Early Permian time. This 150 mile-long series of faults stretches under five states: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, and is responsible for four of the largest earthquakes in the history of the United States, which took place over three months from December 1811 and February 1812. 16). Rough Creek graben, that was active as early as latest Precambrian or earliest Cambrian time and that has This is a dramatic example of an angular unconformity, where layers of underlying strata dip in a different direction than the strata above them. ], [Click on image to see a larger version in a new window.]. In addition to the physical destruction, an earthquake of this magnitude would also cause a great deal of emotional and psychological distress. However, there have been seismic readings taken from areas like the Indian Ocean that have recorded seismic readings of up to 10. by a brecciated center within a belt of concentric faults. Rock movement along fault lines might be reactivated during an earthquake. No, earthquakes arent particularly rare in Kentucky. Did you know record earthquakes have rocked Kentucky? Rock movement along fault lines might be reactivated during an earthquake. or post-Paleozoic movement. Prior site planning that takes geology into account is always preferable to dealing with problems after a structure is built. 15). was a shoal in late Middle and early Late Ordovician time. Denison and others (1984, fig. Carroll County - Carrollton. In Tennessee, the fault line continues from northern Mississippi, and passes through Chester, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin, and Wayne counties, before entering western Kentucky. 15), rose at the close of Early Ordovician time. Corrections? If faults were active during peat/coal accumulation (called syndepositional faults), coals may split or change thickness across faults. 198 earthquakes in the past 365 days. The quakes epicenter was in Mineral, Virginia, about 90 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., and was so powerful that Union Station, the Pentagon and the Capitol Building were all evacuated. in the western part of the Appalachian basin. Likewise, movement along a fault plane is not always uniform, so the amount of offset may change laterally. Appalachian basin.--The eastern part of Kentucky, particularly the area east of the Pottsville Escarpment, lies Calloway County - Murray. 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