Action 3 News - Omaha, Nebraska News, Weather, and Sports | Residents Rattled By Earthquake

Residents Rattled By Earthquake

Auburn, NE: It's the story that had lots of Nebraskans shaking in their shoes.  An earthquake just about an hour south of Omaha rattles Auburn Wednesday night. The town sits near the Humboldt fault line. Wednesday night the earth reminded people there that earthquakes do happen in Nebraska.

At Darlings Café in Auburn an earthquake has some people a little rattled. You could say the tremor is still making waves. Kevin Clark spent the afternoon having lunch with his mom.  They felt the earthquake.  Clark says it shook him right out of bed, "The house shaked and the things on the walls shaked too and fell off the floor and everything."  Ralph Darling didn't quite know what to think when the shaking began.  The café owner says, "I heard my garage door rattle and I thought well someone's trying to break in or someone threw a snowball. Then when I got home Bob called me and said we had an earthquake."

The U.S Geological Survey team reports a 3.5 magnitude earthquake rattled the sleepy little town of Auburn at 8:53 Wednesday night. While it's considered a minor earthquake everyone is talking about it but little damage is seen.

Nemaha Emergency County Manager Robert Cole lives four miles from the epicenter. The damage to his old farmstead home is minor.  "The only evidence of the quake was some cracking in the plaster," he explains.

A panicked woman in Johnson County called 911 after hearing a possible explosion.  Turns out, she heard the earth rumbling under her.  She told the dispatcher, "There were just two explosions. I don't know where things fell off our walls."

Living near a fault line, the people of Auburn are learning from this earthquake and brace for the next one.

Several viewers emailed a report to 'Action 3 News' Liz Dorland that is on "Spaceweather.com" asking if it's legitimate or not.  It's a report from a Nebraska State Trooper claiming to witness a meteor hitting the ground seconds before the earthquake. Trooper Jerry Chab reports "seeing a very bright meteor lit up the completely overcast sky line like lightning...It flashed for approximately 2 seconds and was followed by sonic booms and ground shaking". Liz dug deeper for answers by calling the Nebraska State Patrol.  Deb Collins confirms what the trooper saw.  Dorland called USGS, they say more meteors burn-up in the atmosphere before they hit the ground.  There is "no way a meteor could have caused the earthquake".  The state patrol says it may just be a coincidence.

Reported By; Liz Dorland; ldorland@action3news.com