ANOTHER Earthquake!

ROGERS, Ark. -- Scientists said another minor earthquake struck Benton County early Thursday evening.
Residents said they heard a loud boom at about 7 p.m. and felt shaking under their feet.
A seismograph at Hobbs State Park east of Rogers showed that something caused the earth to move. The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that a 2.6 magnitude area hit about two miles northwest of Cave Springs.
The quake struck in the same general area where a 2.5 magnitude quake hit in April.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage. (40/29)


The U.S. Geological Service confirms that a 2.6 earthquake was felt in Benton County and southern Missouri Thursday around 7 p.m.  The epicenter of the quake is roughly two miles outside of Cave Springs. It could also be felt in Highfill, Centerton, Bella Vista, Bentonville and Rogers, as well as St. Louis and Springfield, MO.Residents we spoke with say they heard a loud boom and felt the ground shake. (Channel5)


The University of Arkansas' Geology Department received several calls Thursday afternoon regarding the Benton County earthquake and they were just as surprised as everyone else.  "It's pretty rare, I don't know when the last earthquake may have been here," said Dr. Stephen Boss, of the Department of Geosciences.
Boss did say that a 2.5 magnitude quake takes place about one million times over the course of the year. In many cases people can't even feel it, but as the magnitude goes up, they become rarer and the amount of damage increases. Four or five magnitude usually results in property damage, while an eight or nine can have a major economic impact and loss of life.  A magnitude nine earthquake only occurs an average of once a year. The earthquake that killed nearly 500 people in Chile earlier this year was a 8.8 magnitude.  "Each step up the Richter Scale is 10 times stronger than the previous level," said Boss.  He believes the earthquake hit somewhere near the Bella Vista Fault line. "There are a number of other faults among the state and Northwest Arkansas, many of these are very ancient structures, very, very old and generally there aren't really seismically active anymore, they were active hundreds of millions of years ago," said Boss.  He said that people should be surprised, but not concerned. "I wouldn't expect a recurrence of any large earthquakes to develop out of this," said Boss. (Channel5)

(40/29) There was a 2.6 magnitude quake at 7:01 tonight. Here are the distances from the epicenter:
3 km (2 miles) NW (307°) from Cave Springs, AR
7 km (4 miles) ENE (68°) from Highfill, AR
8 km (5 miles) SSE (157°) from Centerton, AR
11 km (6 miles) WSW (249°) from Rogers, AR

Preliminary reports indicate a 2.6 magnitude earthquake hit Rogers around seven Thursday evening.
We've learned the earthquake hit five kilometers below the surface.  The epicenter is near the intersection of Morning Star Road and Haxton just west of the Shadow Valley Country Club in Rogers. (KNWA)