Historically, Lima has been the epicenter of many small earthquakes in the past. When a magnitude 2.5 earthquake hit the area early morning, it was still the last thing people were expecting.
An earthquake shook up the area a bit this morning, but luckily caused no major damage or problems. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, just after midnight an earthquake happened underneath the Woodlawn Cemetery in Lima.
Around 100 people reported feeling the earthquake, including Dr. Mark Kleffner, the associate dean at OSU Lima.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was an earthquake," says Kleffner. "I was just in bed, just about falling asleep and I heard what I thought was a loud burst of thunder."
He says that experiencing an earthquake in Lima actually isn’t all that rare. This area has experienced the most earthquakes out of all of Ohio in the last couple hundred years.
He also says it’s not something Ohioans need to be worried about, as the magnitude of the earthquakes in the area stay relatively low. But even still, feeling the earthquake under your feet will have you asking some questions.
Kleffner says, “Probably my experience was shared by many, and many people just like me didn’t think anything about an earthquake. If they were still awake they might have thought, ‘well that’s kind of weird thunder this time of year but I don’t know what else it could be.”
And he was right. Other people did feel the earthquake and they made their own assumptions on what could have possibly happened.
Peggy Ehora, a Lima resident says, “The house just shook, like a tremor, it just shook. Your first thought is, ‘What was that?’ and you’re thinking, is that just your house? Your second thought is, something might have happened at the refinery.”
Jodie Robinson, a Shawnee area resident continues, “It just felt like the whole house shook. I wasn’t sure, at the time I honestly thought someone was breaking in.”
Both women said they took their concerns to Facebook to find out what could have caused the commotion. They both said that other people from all parts of Lima and the surrounding area shared the same experience.
“But then you’re still kind of wondering, what just happened in our community, is it one of the refineries, I would have never guessed an earthquake,” says Robinson.
If you’re interested in learning more about the history of earthquakes in our area, head to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website.
