EARTHQUAKE OF 3.8 REGISTERED AT DYERSBURG, TENN.

DYERSBURG, Tenn. -- Earthquake expert Dr. Haydar Al-Shukri says the minor earthquake in Dyersburg over the weekend was a reminder the area is due a larger quake.

Saturday's earthquake in Dyersburg registered 3.8 on the Richter scale and left no reported damage. But it still affected some residents.

"From a statistical point of view, all indications tell us we might have a more damaging earthquake within the next decade or two," said Al-Shukuri, director for the Center of Earthquake Studies at Southeast Missouri University.

"It was an earthquake that folks could feel," said Steve Brewer, the seismic networks director at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis. "It bumped things around and maybe knocked pictures off the wall."

Dyersburg resident Linda Sorell said she certainly felt the quake and everyone she talked to on both sides of town felt it.

"I was at Wal-Mart having my oil changed, waiting in the automotive section," Sorell said. "I had my head leaned back on the wall and when the earthquake began it was like an explosion."

The earthquake only lasted a second or two, Sorell said, but it was actually audible.

"A rumble is the best way I could describe the sound," she said. "People were looking around saying: 'Did you hear that?'"

The earthquake occurred at 2:51 p.m. Saturday and could be felt by people as far as 75 miles away including Troy and Union City in Tennessee and Graves County in Kentucky.

"The earthquake was actually pretty average," Brewer said, adding that experts expect one of these smaller quakes a year.

Brewer said earthquakes this small are really just an indication of a weak place in the crust and there is no way of predicting whether there will be another one any time soon.

"Earthquakes like this one don't eliminate any pressure so they don't make you or break you either way," Brewer said. "They're just impossible to predict."

There are several things people should do to prepare for earthquakes.

People should keep an emergency supply of necessities handy in a safe place.

This supply should include clean water, a first-aid kit, a flashlight and a battery-operated radio.

Everyone should make sure their hot water heaters, gas stoves and furnaces are securely fastened and are in no danger of turning over or moving around in an earthquake.

"They should also find out where the safest place to be in their homes is," Al-Shukri said. "By a wall in a basement is a good place."

Possibly the most important thing people should remember is not to panic.

"Nobody's going to stay calm," Al-Shukri said. "But you need to keep a level head."

For more information on earthquakes and earthquake preparedness, call the Center for Earthquake studies at 651-2019.