By By Adam Prestridge
Those who felt the ground shake Monday afternoon in Atmore and the surrounding areas are convinced that it was an earthquake.
U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Lisa Wald, who also serves as the organization’s Web manager for earthquake hazard programs, could not rule out that the brief shaking felt in Atmore and Poarch was a small earthquake after performing some research for the Advance.
The Advance fielded numerous calls reporting the possible earthquake. Upon further research, a spokesperson with the National Weather Service out of Mobile confirmed that they had also received calls inquiring about a possible earthquake.
Wald initially researched regional information for the State of Alabama on the U.S. Geological Survey’s Web site www.earthquake.usgs.gov to see if a recent earthquake had been documented. After finding that no earthquake had been recorded she agreed to perform further research in hopes of finding an answer.
Wald said the lack of instrumentation in Alabama could forever make last Monday’s ground shaking experience a mystery to those who felt it.