Pocono News Section

Earthquake Registered at Keystone College

Earthquake Registered at Keystone College - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 5:35PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 @ 05:35pm EST
LAPLUME, LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- When the ground started shaking in Haiti, it also registered here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. We might not have felt the earthquake, but a small device at Keystone College did.

When Dr. Ian Saginor, a Keystone Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences saw readings on the seismometer Tuesday afternoon, he knew something terrible was happening. "You see an earthquake that size coming in the seismometer, you know it's going to have a large impact," said Dr. Saginor.

Dr. Saginor showed us what he saw from Keystone College's seismometer here in La Plume, Lackawanna County. The device detects earthquakes across the globe.

Haiti's earthquake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. Saginor says that strong of a quake happens every week across the globe, but not around a lot of people, like Haiti's.

"It's really devastating. Most of the city was just leveled so this is going to be a lot worse in the coming days and weeks than we realize," said Dr. Saginor.

The seismometer sits three feet underground in the hills behind Keystone College. It transmits it's data from it’s location to a house on campus.

The Haiti quake this will help professors like Saginor teach students. It won't be long before these readings are put to use. "We have an upcoming earths' and volcanoes class this spring that I'll be teaching and this will be talked about on the first day. It's all tied in to news and public response."

You can track Keystone’s seismometer through their .