Posted Tuesday, Sept. 29, 1998
The visiting experts -- Dr. Stephen Horton and doctoral student Debi Kilb -- invite individuals to document their personal accounts on the Center for Earthquake Research and Information web site: http://samwise.ceri.memphis.edu/felt_info.html
The researchers are interesting in hearing from individuals in the region who felt the earthquake as well as those who did not experience any effects.
These anecdotal reports will assist scientists in documenting the scope and magnitude of the earthquake in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. In the past, researchers depended solely on such information to formulate official reports in earthquake impact. Today, seismologists use a network of sophisticated instruments that allow for more-accurate data collection.
Scientists throughout the United States collected extensive data while the earthquake was in progress, Kilb said, adding "However, personal accounts are still quite valuable to our research."
Horton and Kilb are joined by researchers from the USGS and Columbia University. Working from the environmental science laboratories at Thiel College, University of Memphis researchers are gathering aftershock data.
Early Saturday morning, 9/26 Horton and Kilb placed highly sensitive seismographs in locations around the earthquakes epicenter, which is believed to be just northwest of Greenville in West Salem Township. Measurements fro these outposts are being transferred via Thiel College's electronic network to the University of Memphis for further analysis.
