Sorry for the brief diary (if that even exists anymore), but there was just a 3.5 earthquake offshore here in Alabama. I didn't feel it (awww!), but it probably wasn't strong enough to be felt out here anyway.
The quake happened at 5:15PM CST just offshore from Gulf Shores, AL. The epicenter was 35 miles from Mobile AL (where I am), 40 miles from Pensacola FL, and 45 miles from Pascagoula MS. The quake was 3.1 miles deep, and there were reports of "light shaking" on some of the Alabama and Florida barrier islands.
This is still a rather "fresh" event, so I'll continue to update this diary as news stories and reports come through.
USGS Link
Here's a Google Maps satellite image of the area. I placed a red dot approximately where the epicenter was, and (horribly) outlined the Alabama/Florida border in red.
Click to enlarge.
Jump the squiggle for various updates.
Update 1:
This from AL.com :
There have been no reports yet of any damage from the earthquake. What's more, there have not been a stream of calls from residents reporting having felt it.
US Geological Survey experts say that most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains has infrequent earthquakes. Here and there earthquakes are more numerous, but most of the enormous region from the Rockies to the Atlantic can go years without an earthquake large enough to be felt.
Update 2:
Here are some significant modern Alabama earthquakes, from the USGS website.
1975: 4.4 in Palmerdale, Alabama.
1989: 3.9 in Littleville, Alabama.
1997: 4.9 in Brewton, Alabama.
1999: 4.0 somewhere in Alabama (caused by mine collapse)