By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network

CHAMPAIGN – Two earthquakes that struck the Wabash Valley in two weeks has emergency management teams concerned about an active fault line there.

A 3.8-magnitude earthquake hit approximately 7 miles west of Mount Carmel in the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone on Tuesday.

Robert Bauer, an engineering geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey University of Illinois, said the earthquake’s epicenter was at more than 7 miles below ground in an area known as the Precambrian basement.

A 3.1-magnitude quake hit the same area at a similar depth on Sept. 8, according to Bauer.

“This event is way down deep below where we get our oil and coal, and this is at a depth where we naturally have earthquakes,” Bauer said.

Bauer said the quakes line up with an estimated location of a fault that was part of the April 18, 2008, magnitude-5.2 earthquake.

He said it’s important for people living near the seismic zone to be prepared for earthquakes.

“You don’t want to be near a building during an earthquake,” Bauer said. “You don’t want to be running outside the building. You want to do the drop, cover and hold drill.”

Dr. Tim Larson, senior geophysicist at the Illinois State Geological Survey at the University of Illinois, said the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone is known for occasional earthquakes.

Larson believes this quake might be related to the 2008 quake.

“It’s either this is a distant aftershock from that one or this is some other activity that’s going on in that same area that seems to be continuing,” Larson said.

Larson said the recent activity could be aftershocks from the 2008 quake.

An earthquake registering in the magnitude-5 range typically hits the Wabash Valley area approximately every 20 years, but Larson said area residents should always be prepared with the help of the emergency management team.

“The emergency management community in Illinois is very much aware of the earthquake risks.” he said. “They are preparing themselves for responding to earthquakes.”