Last weekend's earthquake in Alaska that churned up waves as far as a Louisiana lake also temporarily muddied well water in homes more than 3,000 miles away.
According to a report by Associted Press writer Bill Bergstrom, well-drilling companies received a deluge of calls Sunday and Monday from Pennsylvania customers complaining about water turning cloudy or muddy.
U.S. Geological Survey offices around the country were inundated with calls after the 7.9-magnitude quake hit at 5:13 p.m. EST Sunday a remote region near Alaska's Denali National Park. Ocean-like waves rolled ashore on a lake in Washington state, boats were tossed around on Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana, and water sloshed around in swimming pools across the East.
Waverly Person, a USGS geophysicist in Golden, Colo., told Bergstrom that stirred-up wells also were widespread.
"This type of phenomenon happens with big, shallow earthquakes," Person said. "The surface waves from this earthquake were recorded for hours and they were just rolling around and around the earth."
In Temple, 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, homeowners with wells started calling within hours, Richard C. Stump II of Suburban Water Testing Labs Inc. explained to Bergstrom.
"Starting Sunday night and into Monday morning, people were reporting that their wells were turning a muddy color," Stump said.
No serious injuries were reported in Sunday's quake, but officials estimated the damage to Alaska highways would cost $20 million to repair.
Source: The Associated Press
