The Rare Kalamazoo County Earthquake Of 2015
Earthquakes of any magnitude in Michigan are rare compared to other parts of the country, but the one that shook the region in 2015 was nearly unprecedented.
On Saturday, May 2, 2015 at 12:23pm, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake centered nine miles south of Galesburg in Kalamazoo County happened. It was the second strongest earthquake to happen in Michigan since records have been kept. Despite being strong by Michigan standards, it did not cause any serious damage or injuries. But it was felt in five states and parts of Canada and raised eyebrows in the geological community.
The quake confirmed theories that a fault line was located in southeastern Kalamazoo County and that it also was connected to the same fault responsible for Michigan's strongest recorded quake back in 1947. That one happened near Coldwater in Branch County and measured 4.6 on the Richter scale.
It seems like seismic activity in Michigan is happening a bit more frequently in recent years. Only two months after the historic seismic activity in Kalamazoo County, a 3.3 quake occurred twenty miles from the previous one near Union City in Calhoun County. The strongest earthquake in Michigan since the one in Kalamazoo County three years ago happened in Detroit just two weeks ago measured at a 3.6 magnitude. Prior to these three, it had been twenty years since an earthquake 3.0 or stronger happened in Michigan.