Minor temblor rocks the Cleveland area

NORTH PERRY, Ohio (AP) -- A small earthquake that was felt along the Lake Erie coast hit near Cleveland on Tuesday afternoon but caused no damage.
The quake was recorded at 4:11 p.m. about three miles into Lake Erie near North Perry, about 40 miles east of Cleveland. Preliminary data show it registered a magnitude of 3.4, said Michael Hansen, coordinator of the Ohio Seismic Network, a division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that tracks earthquakes.
Reports of the ground shaking came from as far west as Westlake and as far east as Madison, Hansen said.
"It caused a lot of excitement with people," he said.
Hansen said researchers are particularly intrigued because it was the 10th and largest quake in northern Ohio this year. The second-biggest was a 3.0 magnitude March 11, 2006, also beneath the lake.
"This is a fairly good amount, more than usual. What that means exactly I don't know. I don't think anybody can make much of a prediction on that," Hansen said.
Scientists say Ohio's earthquakes are linked to an ancient scar six-thousand feet deep that is known as the Akron Magnetic Boundary. The fault runs diagonally through Summit County and into Geauga, Lake and Ashtabula counties and was formed when North America tried unsuccessfully to split a billion years ago.
When the Earth shifts the fault sometimes shifts, causing an earthquake.
Ohio's largest earthquake registered 5.4 in 1937 in Shelby County, a rural area between Toledo and Dayton. The quake toppled chimneys, gravestones and a school in the town of Anna.
Hansen asked people who felt Tuesday's earthquake to report their experience on the network's Web site at http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/OhioSeis/.