People in town near earthquake's epicenter felt varied intensity of shaking

GRANDIN, Mo. -- People in the small Carter County town of Grandin reported feeling a minor earthquake that rattled the city Thursday for the second time in six months, though the intensity of the reported shaking varied.

The 3.6 magnitude temblor occurred shortly after 6:30 p.m., and had an epicenter 3 miles southeast of the town of about 230 people, according to the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI). Maps show the quake's center to have been in a farm field between county roads 265 and 266.

Homes in Poplar Bluff, Mo., experienced shaking similar to what happens following a loud boom of thunder.

Thursday's event shared the same epicenter as a magnitude-2.5 quake that shook the area at 3:41 a.m. May 19, CERI reports.

Thursday's event had a depth of 10.3 miles, while the one in May was closer to the surface, only 5.4 miles underground.

Less than three hours after the event, more than 460 people reported on a U.S. Geological Service website they felt the earthquake. Many of the reports came from up to 200 miles away from the epicenter, including Ballwin, Mo., while at least 75 came from Poplar Bluff.

While hundreds of earthquakes have shaken the central United States in recent months, only about 20 since late March were larger than the one felt here Thursday.

Kelly Joplin, who lives about a mile from Grandin, called the earthquake "crazy. It shook my house and rattled the windows."

Rachel Coleman, who lives in Grandin, said her house did not shake. Coleman described the earthquake as "weird," adding it "sounded like a low rumble of thunder in a distance," which "kind of shook" her chair. Coleman said the earthquake "rumbled for 10 to 20 seconds."

Friday morning, Grandin Fire Chief Dave Townsend said the earthquake "really wasn't much." He said it created some shaking and a boom, but he was not aware of any damage in Grandin. The Missouri State Highway Patrol officer who checked the area didn't find any damage, said a Troop G officer Friday morning.

Grandin Postmaster Tracy King was at home during the earthquake playing with her pit bull and didn't feel anything, but her mother Lanie Bishop who lives one mile south of town did feel the quake. Bishop was in her lounge chair when "everything started shaking and some things were falling." Bishop said the earthquake lasted just a few seconds and when she looked around she couldn't find any damage. "It didn't knock anything off my walls."

Marie Holloway, an employee at Vicky's store in Grandin, said she felt the earthquake "a little bit."

Melissa Steiger, who works at Dave's store, said she was at home in Ellsinore when the quake occurred. "Actually, I thought is was a sonic boom or a wreck in my backyard." Steiger said her sister-in-law Sandy Nance thought it was "rolling thunder."

A Carter County Sheriff's Department dispatcher said she was at home on the Carter and Reynolds county line when the earthquake occurred and she didn't feel anything. When she checked the sheriff's log Friday morning, she said the evening dispatcher did show a few calls coming in to ask if it was an earthquake, but no one reported any damage. She said her son works in Blytheville, Ark., and some of his co-workers did report feeling the earthquake that far away.

Pertinent address:

Grandin, MO