CALHOUN COUNTY, Mich. -- Experts gave FOX 17 insight after a 3.3 magnitude earthquake was felt throughout the Battle Creek area Tuesday.
The quake happened nearly 2 months after a 4.2 magnitude earthquake was confirmed about five miles south of Galesburg May 2.
The United States Geological Survey placed the epicenter of Tuesday’s earthquake about 7 miles northeast of Union City. Experts say no injuries or damage were caused, but now we're wondering what may have caused it.
Professor Chris Schmidt with Western Michigan University's geology department told us the quakes follow a pattern, believed to be a fault line. What he doesn't know is why the sudden flare in seismic activity.
Schmidt said Michigan’s largest quake occurred in 1947 and happened in the same area as the one Tuesday as well as the one two months ago.
“It was active in 1947, it was active May and this is just one event, a very small event, that came after that one in May,” said Schmidt.
Even if geologists can't determine exactly what's causing it, they can rule out fracking.
"This is not related to fracking, as far as I know, and my colleagues that know better about where the wells are have assured me that there is no underground storage of waste water in this region. So I guess you would call this earthquake itself an anomaly," said Schmidt.
