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Earthquake rocks DeKalb and Southeast

By Steven Stiefel
The Times-Journal

Published April 30, 2003

A rare earthquake shook the southeast early Tuesday morning, its energy centered near Mentone but felt in seven states, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The 4.9 magnitude quake rattled homes with a rude awakening at 3:59 a.m.

“I thought a tree fell on my house,” said Fort Payne Police Chief David Walker, “or perhaps a truck slamming into Joe’s Truck Stop, but the commotion lasted too long to be an explosion.”

Officers told Walker that after the tremors, families poured into the streets curious to see the source of the jolt.

“Our phone system was absolutely overloaded. This shut down 911,” he said. “One of our officers has lived in California, and he had never heard one like that. The quake had an explosion sound, a deep rumbling that went on for several seconds.”

Both Walker and DeKalb County Sheriff Cecil Reed reported no incidents related to the earthquake.

“Just a lot of shaking and groceries falling out of cabinets,” Reed said.

Walker said the state highway department spent much of Tuesday inspecting roads and bridges for damage.

Managers of the Fort Payne Improvement Authority and Sand Mountain Electric Cooperative said there were no reported power outages following the earthquake, but Cherokee Electric Cooperative dispatch supervisor James Weaver said some customers in the Lickskillet area served by the Leesburg substation were without power until 5:30 a.m.

Six minor aftershocks were reported in the 2.0 to 2.5 range, according to USGS.

The water system in Valley Head shut down because the shaking caused spring water to get muddy, according to Lisa Smith of the waterworks. This impacted water customers in Valley Head, Hammondville, Sulfur Springs and Ider, also shutting down a high-capacity water user at Shaw Industries.

“Our water is not contaminated,” Smith said. “We just asked customers to conserve water because we have had to stop pumping and all the water we have is what is left in the tanks. Once the source water tests clear, we will go back to normal.”

Paul Nail, general manager of the Fort Payne Waterworks, said his crews fixed a couple of minor leaks, adding “we really dodged a bullet.”

Steve Porter of DeKalb-Cherokee Natural Gas District said crews spent Tuesday searching for gas leaks and found none.

Emergency management officials said most people experienced minor damage to dishes and pictures knocked off walls.

“We have cracked foundations, a trailer off its foundation, tools off the wall, that kind of thing,” said Susan Battles of the DeKalb County emergency management office in Fort Payne.

An artesian well in Mentone that has supplied water by natural pressure for 50 years no longer flows, Battles said.

“I sat straight up in my bed,” said Lucille Simpson, working at a store in Fort Payne that had bottles and cans knocked off shelves. “My husband said, ‘That’s a tornado,’ but I said, ‘No. That’s an earthquake.”’

“Everybody else, they thought it was an airplane or a bomb,” she said.

The roof of a Moon Lake School classroom partially collapsed when bricks from a chimney were shaken loose.

Steve Nelson, of Fort Payne, said a large television came crashing out of an entertainment center, the oven was jarred from its hole and the foundation of his home now has a crack running the entire length.

“My back wall is about to fall out and I found out this morning I needed to specifically buy earthquake insurance for this to be covered,” Nelson said. “I’m kind of sick about it. My front brick steps are caved in too.”

“I thought somebody had run through my trailer,” said James Samples of Sylvania.

Tammy Todd was working in Krystal when the quake hit.

“I usually don’t get scared by much, but this did the job,” Todd said. “It shook the building, and we went outside. The restaurant was just rocking back and forth.”

Tonya Wells of Fort Payne said her little boy thought “aliens” were coming while she assumed the noise was a tornado.

“I thought maybe Jesus was coming back,” said Lorene Rochester of Fort Payne.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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