The Geosciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been operating a seismograph, or earthquake recording station, since September of 1972. The seismograph is being operated at high enough gain so that newsworthy earthquakes from almost anywhere in the world can be recorded. The seismograph records ground vibrations from distant, and nearby, earthquakes, which are shaking the ground under Milwaukee. But, since the seismograph is highly sensitive, these vibrations are very, very small and cannot be felt by anyone in the city of Milwaukee. You can take a virtual tour of the seismograph by clicking on this link.
Milwaukee is seismically quiet. There has been only one recorded earthquake in the Milwaukee area and that occurred on Tuesday, May 6, 1947. (See Milwaukee's Earthquake History below.) Other events have been recorded over the years that in retrospect and further analysis have turned out to not be earthquakes, but some sort of man-made event. A good example of this were the reported earthquakes of February 12, 1987 which now are considered by us to be sonic booms.
Over the years there have been a couple of other seismographs that operated in Milwaukee. Marquette University operated a seismograph from 1911 till sometime in the 1960s. The long-time curator at Marquette was Rev. Joseph Carroll of the Physics Department. There also was a deep water well owned by Nunn Bush Shoe Company, 2822 N 5th St., a block south of Locust, that gave "seismic" records. This water well seismometer was in operation from 1947 till the 1970s.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison operated a seismograph periodically in the early part of the 20th century. From about 1960 to 1968 they operated a very good, highly sensitive seismograph in the Baraboo Hills at the Badger Ordinance Works (Army ammunition plant).
A seismograph was also operated at Loyola University in Chicago for a long time up into the 1980s. It is currently not in operation.
Other nearby seismograph stations, currently in operation, are a US Geological Survey station, with an ID logo of "JFWS," near Mineral Point and a seismograph at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, operated by the Geology Department. There are a couple of high schools in the Chicago area that also operate seismic systems.
Virtual Tour of the UW-Milwaukee Seismic Station
Milwaukee's Earthquake History
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