No my friends, earthquakes are not caused by the non-existent fairy tale of climate change. I want to get that primitive myth put to bed right away.

We had an earthquake here in Minnesota yesterday morning at 2:20 with the epicenter near Alexandria.

via Northland’s News Center:

Alexandrea, MN – A small earthquake rattled parts of Southwestern Minnesota early this [Friday] morning.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 2.5 magnitude quake shook the city of Alexandria around 2:20 this morning.

There was no reported damage from the small earthquake and no reports of injuries.

Those who live in the area likened the rumble to that of a loud clap of thunder.

Some felt their homes shake for a couple of seconds.

Earthquakes are extremely rare in Minnesota.

The last time one was reported was in 1994 in South Central Minnesota.

It was recorded at 3.1 on the Richter Scale.

I don’t know that I’d be saying earthquakes as “extremely rare” in Minnesota, rare yes, but not “extremely” as you can clearly see, 17 years ago we were hit with one. Earthquakes in Minnesota average one every 10 years dating back 120 years. In 1975 we got hit with a whopper (by our standards), 4.6 quake centered in Morris that we felt 111 miles away in Fargo.

Here’s a little info on that one:

The 1975 Morris earthquake occurred in Morris, Minnesota, on July 9, 1975 at 14:54:15 UTC, or 9:54 a.m. The earthquake was the strongest instrumentally recorded rupture in the history of the state, at magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale. It was the first earthquake to be recorded on any seismic instrument in the state since 1917. Tremors were felt over much of Minnesota, northern Iowa and the eastern Dakotas….

The earthquake caused moderate damage, being defined as intensity VI on the Mercalli scale. Minor damage to walls and basement foundations was reported around the epicenter in Stevens County. Damage consisted of cracked plaster, falling items and pictures being knocked off walls. The quake also cracked the foundations of two homes on East Fifth Street in Morris. Many reports included extremely loud “bangs” and “explosions”. These sounds lead to one man thinking that a nearby gas plant had exploded. If the earthquake had occurred elsewhere, however, it may have caused a larger amount of damage.

The next question may be, does Minnesota have a fault line? Actually, that question should be rephrased to this. Is there a tectonic fault line in Minnesota? The answer is yes. It is called the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone:

The Great Lakes tectonic zone is a major Precambrian crustal feature more than 1,200 km long extending eastward from Minnesota into Ontario, Canada. It is a zone of distinctive tectonism, affecting both Archean and early Proterozoic rocks, along the northern margin of the early Proterozoic Penokean fold belt adjacent to the Archean Superior province. The zone coincides with the boundary between two Archean crustal segments recognized in the region: a greenstone-granite terrane (~2,700 m.y. old) to the north (Superior province) and an older (in part 3,500 m.y. old) gneiss terrane to the south.

Now that we have established the fact that Minnesota is not immune from earthquakes, and as we all know by now, tsunami’s are caused by earthquakes, is it possible for a Lake Superior tsunami? Oh yes, yes indeed. And it would be much more powerful and devastating than the regular ocean tsunami’s.

WCCO TV’s Jason DeRusha summarizes:

It actually could be more devastating than in an ocean. That’s because in Lake Superior, it would trigger underwater landslides which could send incredible waves hurdling towards the shore.

Science has established that it was possible a 46 foot wave did in the 729 foot ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald. So imagine a 45 foot wave bearing down on Duluth at 600 mph. Complete devastation. You won’t have a few hours to get away from it, you would have mere minutes, maybe less. Not enough time.

So, there’s your science lesson for the day folks. It’s quite interesting, don’t you agree?