(TW) – The USGS has registered a shallow Magnitude 1.5 earthquake under Lake Erie, near Cleveland, Ohio at 02:28 UTC on June 17, 2019, making it the third quake in the area in just 7 days. It comes 7 days after rare Magnitude 4.0 hit the same region and 1 day after Magnitude 1.9. Over 8,000 people reported feeling the Magnitude 4.0 quake, rating the intensity as weak to light. While this region is not typically associated with strong earthquakes, Ohio was hit by at least 200 earthquakes since 1776, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). The majority of them, however, caused no damage or injuries and have been felt only locally.

Of those 200, at least 15 earthquakes have caused minor to moderate damage. Fortunately, no deaths and only a few minor injuries have been recorded for these events. Ohio is on the periphery of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area in Missouri and adjacent states that were the site of the largest earthquake sequence to occur in historical times in the continental United States. Four great earthquakes were part of a series at New Madrid in 1811 and 1812. These events were felt throughout the eastern United States and were of sufficient intensity to topple chimneys in Cincinnati. Some estimates suggest that these earthquakes were in the range of 8.0 on the Richter scale. READ MORE