Did Quake Cause Water Woes in Denver, PA?
December 14, 2006
By Ryan Robinson, New Era Staff Writer, Lancaster, PA
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - A local official says a minor earthquake that struck the Reading area Wednesday may have caused a significant water main break in Denver Borough.
The 2.5-magnitude quake struck shortly after 2 p.m. about seven miles west-southwest of Reading, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
"There is a question with the timing of the (water main) break, if it is tied at all to the earthquake," Michael Hession, Denver Borough's manager, said today.
"The line essentially shifted about an inch. Something forced it to move, and we're not sure what it was."
Hession said there has been five breaks of the water main in the last 20 years.
But this one along Snyder Street, between Main and Monroe streets, was different.
A rock against the pipe is often found to be the cause of a crack or break, Hession said. The borough's public works crew found no such rocks this time.
"Instead of a crack and break, it was a small offset," Hession said.
"We had to cut out a piece of the main and replace it, instead of just repairing a crack."
Hession said borough workers noticed a drop in the local reservoir's water level, saw the water use meter jump and got reports of reduced water pressure from residents from about 2 to 3:30 p.m.
The Geological Survey lists the time of the earthquake as 2:08 p.m.
Six homes, the Denver Post Office and the Ephrata National Bank along Snyder Street were without water from 4:30 p.m. Wednesday until about 4 this morning, Hession said.
If it wasn't the earthquake that did it, the water main break may have been caused by the recent change from cold to warmer temperatures, he said.
Blasts at Martin Limestone's quarry, southeast of Denver, also can occasionally be felt within the borough, Hession said.
The quake shook at least one building near Reading on Wednesday and prompted startled residents to inundate Berks County's 911 center with phone calls.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
"It was sizable compared to the ones we've seen in the past," said Brian Gottschall of Berks' Emergency Management Agency. "Every year or so we have small tremors."
On the USGS Web site, where people can report tremors, there were 292 reports of weak to light shaking from 33 zip codes. Most came from the Reading area.
Three reports, however, came from Denver, Reinholds and Lancaster.
The earthquake was tiny compared to one in western Pennsylvania in 1998.
That quake -- about 75 miles north-northwest of Pittsburgh -- had a 5.2 magnitude and was felt in Canada.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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