Floyd County residents were given a good shake Saturday afternoon when a magnitude 4.3 earthquake rattled the mountains.
United State Geological Survey that the earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale emanated from 8 miles west of Whitesburg, Ky., and was felt as far away as Indiana.
Residents in Floyd County flooded social networking sites after the event occurred just after 12 noon on Saturday.
Prestonsburg Fire Chief Bobby Carpenter said there was only one possible site of structural damage linked to the earthquake. He said that there was a significant crack in the garage and apartment linked to the old Arrowoods building on North Lake Drive.
According to Carpenter the building has already been slated for demolition, and is in such a poor state of repair that it was impossible to determine if the crack was caused by the earthquake.
In Whitesburg there were reports of gas and water line breaks, though Carpenter says there were no reports of similar breaks in and around Prestonsburg. “Nothing like that locally, or least nothing reported,” he said.
Eastern Kentucky is for the most part in lowest of the seismic zones; Zone D. Zoning regulations that go into new buildings in this zone are very similar to those required for wind damage, says Carpenter.
Eastern Kentucky is not known for high rise buildings, but Carpenter says that anything over four stories for our purposes is considered a high rise and goes through the state department of housing for building plans.
The earthquake was reportedly felt in Virginia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana, and brought back memories of an earthquake last year which struck in Northern Virginia. That earthquake set off alarms in Floyd County and caused damage to buildings in Pike County.
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