Magnitude 4.2 Earthquake Rattles Western Michigan Saturday Afternoon

Western Michigan experienced a magnitude 4.2 earthquake Saturday afternoon at 12:23 p.m., just south of Galesburg, centered in Kalamazoo County at a depth of 3.5 miles. The quake is confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The tremor was felt in Indiana, across Lake Michigan in the Chicago area and Wisconsin, in northwest Ohio and even as far south as Missouri.

The quake was initially rated a 4.0 but upgraded to 4.2 about an hour later. This is the largest quake to hit Michigan since 1947 when a magnitude 4.6 earthquake was registered in the same region of western Michigan. Earthquakes at magnitude 5 and above are capable of causing major damage.

If you felt the earth move, help the U.S. Geological Survey by describing what you experienced through a form on the USGS website.

Emergency calls poured into the 911 emergency center for Kalamazoo County, Public Safety Lt. Scott Bowling told mLive.com, but there have been no damage or injury reports due to the quake.

There is a report of one building damaged in East Lansing, Ingham County Emergency Management told the Lansing State Journal.

John Bellini, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center, told the Detroit Free Press that Michigan does not have many active fault lines, and the ones Michigan does have are small and poorly studied.