Don W. Steeples This is Me

Education

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1. 1. www.kansas.com

   www.kansas.com/news/story/3777 - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/19/2008   Last Visited: 4/19/2008

   "It wouldn't surprise me a whole lot that people in Wichita might feel" the earthquake, which registered at 4:36 a.m., said Don Steeples, a geophysics professor at the University of Kansas who has studied earthquakes for more than 30 years.
   ...
   Steeples, of KU, said he heard from some people in Lawrence who thought they had felt the aftershock.
   
   "That's a little surprising," he said, "but not unheard of."
   
   According to the USGS National Earthquake Information Center, earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S. are typically felt over a much broader region.East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as 10 times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the West Coast, according to the center.
   
   "Here in the mid-continent," Steeples said, "the earthquake waves are able to travel unfettered."
   
   Steeples said that about 20 earthquakes occur each year in Kansas, but most register a magnitude of 2.5 or less.It's possible for people to feel them, but they would likely have to be within 10 or 20 miles of the epicenter, he said.
   
   The greatest chance for a large-scale earthquake in the state would be on the Humboldt fault, which runs through Kansas from Omaha to Oklahoma City, Steeples said.
   
   The worst earthquake in Kansas history was recorded April 24, 1867, along the Nemaha Ridge.It started near Manhattan, was felt as far away as Indiana.
   
   The fault, which goes through El Dorado, is capable of producing a 6.0 to 6.5 magnitude earthquake, Steeples said, although an earthquake of that size would occur once every 2,000 years.
   
   No one knows when the last earthquake of that magnitude occurred in Kansas, he said."So we have no clues when the next one will be."
   
   The remote possibility of a severe earthquake has caused the Army Corp of Engineers to strengthen the Tuttle Creek dam, which the fault runs through.
   
   Steeples said the dam is being retrofitted so that it would be able to withstand an earthquake in the low 6.0 magnitude range.

2. 2. www.kansas.com

   www.kansas.com/news/local/stor - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/19/2008   Last Visited: 4/19/2008

   "It wouldn't surprise me a whole lot that people in Wichita might feel" the earthquake, which registered at 4:36 a.m., said Don Steeples, a geophysics professor at the University of Kansas who has studied earthquakes for more than 30 years.
   ...
   Steeples, of KU, said he heard from some people in Lawrence who thought they had felt the aftershock.
   
   "That's a little surprising," he said, "but not unheard of."
   
   According to the USGS National Earthquake Information Center, earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S. are typically felt over a much broader region.East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as 10 times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the West Coast, according to the center.
   
   "Here in the mid-continent," Steeples said, "the earthquake waves are able to travel unfettered."
   
   Steeples said that about 20 earthquakes occur each year in Kansas, but most register a magnitude of 2.5 or less.It's possible for people to feel them, but they would likely have to be within 10 or 20 miles of the epicenter, he said.
   
   The greatest chance for a large-scale earthquake in the state would be on the Humboldt fault, which runs through Kansas from Omaha to Oklahoma City, Steeples said.
   
   The worst earthquake in Kansas history was recorded April 24, 1867, along the Nemaha Ridge.It started near Manhattan, was felt as far away as Indiana.
   
   The fault, which goes through El Dorado, is capable of producing a 6.0 to 6.5 magnitude earthquake, Steeples said, although an earthquake of that size would occur once every 2,000 years.
   
   No one knows when the last earthquake of that magnitude occurred in Kansas, he said."So we have no clues when the next one will be."
   
   The remote possibility of a severe earthquake has caused the Army Corp of Engineers to strengthen the Tuttle Creek dam, which the fault runs through.
   
   Steeples said the dam is being retrofitted so that it would be able to withstand an earthquake in the low 6.0 magnitude range.

3. 3. www.ksnt.com

   www.ksnt.com/news/local/675753 - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/28/2007   Last Visited: 4/2/2007

   University of Kansas seismologist Don Steeples says northeast Kansas typically sees an earthquake every couple of years and the people near the epicenter are more likely feel them."The further you get from the earthquake the less likely you are able to hear it."Measuring 3.1 on the Richter Scale, last weeks earthquake in Jefferson County was minor, and reported no damage.But could we see a destructive earthquake close to home? Steeples says it possible, but not likely.