Friday, October 8, 2010

Large crevice confuses residents


SlideshowIt's a geological phenomenon that has both authorities and Menominee Township residents scratching their heads. A large crevice, stretching almost two football fields, suddenly appeared in the woods near Birch Creek earlier this week.

"I don't know really. It just looks like a giant crack in the ground," said young spectator and local resident, Ashley Armbrust. "I don't know what happened."

The 150-yard crevice is puzzling local residents. Some areas are up to five feet deep and a few feet across. The ground even rose up several feet in some areas around the crevice, causing trees to lean on both sides. Like the spectators, property owners feel the whole thing is just confusing.

"I told the kids we had an earthquake and they laughed at me, then after they looked at it, they say I don't know," said property owner, Eileen Heider.

It all started early Monday morning between 8 & 9 a.m. Central time, when Eileen and her neighbors heard a loud boom, and that's when Eileen felt her house start to shake.

"I heard something, but I was concentrating more on the chair moving than I was listening," Eileen explained. "It was just moving back and forth, like I had a vibrating chair, which I don't have."

Later on, Eileen told her friend, Doug Salewsky, what happened. On Tuesday, he stumbled upon the crevice a short distance away in the woods and later called the state police.

But what caused this unusual event? An earthquake? A sink hole? Authorities say, at the moment, no one seems to know.

"It's a pretty remarkable sight really," said MSP Trooper, Paul Anderson. "Everyone will speculate I'm sure. There are probably a hundred different opinions out there as to what caused this, but at this time, we don't know what caused this."

The U.S. Geological Survey along with Michigan Tech professors have been called to help "crack" the case. Until then, it remains a mystery.

via Large crevice confuses residents : News : UpperMichigansSource.com.

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