This was a 3.8 magnitude quake, quite small (the one in Haiti a month ago, 7.0, was 1600 times stronger!).

Here is a map showing the earthquakes that have hit Northern Illinois in the 20th Century:

20th Century Earthquakes - Northern Illinois

This works out to about one every six years, with none over 4.0.  Here is the exact location of the tremor, which was 10 km below the surface:

Epicenter, Lily Lake Earthquake, Illinois February 2010

And here is a map of where the quake was felt, although there were reports as far away as northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Minnesota and western Ohio:

Shake Map, USGS, Lily Lake Earthquake, Illinois Feb. 2010

This map makes the area look quite mountainous!  It’s really basically flat, I’m afraid.  I will add to this post in the near future…..

I originally thought that Johnson’s Mound, about five miles west of Geneva, was the highest point.  The United States Geological Survey has it’s elevation at 898 ft.  This is about a hundred feet above the surrounding prairie (ie corn fields).  I came to this belief after reading an article in Chicago Wilderness Magazine, in the winter 2009 edition, which states that Johnson’s Mound is the highest point in the county.  While researching this issue on the Internet, I found the following quote on page 240 of The Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois, published in Chicago by WM. Le Baron, Jr. & Co (186 Dearborn Street) in 1878:  “Johnson’s Mound, the highest point of land in the county….”  So this is a common and long held error.  However, over the last two years I have had at least two people, long time natives, state that Johnson’s Mound is not the high point in the county.  So I did some searching on the Internet, checked my USGS Topographic maps and did some fieldwork with my GPS unit.

Highest Point in Kane County - Map

I believe that the triangle marked “1018″ on the immediate east side of Townhall Road on this map (US Geological Survey 7.5 degree “Elburn”) is probably the highest point.  The east/west road to the north is Campton Hills Road.   My GPS read a little higher at this point – 1024-1038 feet.  There is another area immediately to the west that gave the same GPS elevation – this is on High Point Lane.  Visually, the “1018″ appeared higher.  This is a residential area, and so I didn’t venture off the roads to get to the exact spot.

Some may argue that the real high point is the top of Robert Rathbun Wilson Hall at Fermi Lab in Batavia.  This is the tallest building in Kane county at sixteen stories and 240 feet.  Wilson Hall sits at an elevation of 745 feet, so the top is about 985 feet, 30 or more feet shy of “1018″ hill off Townhall road.  However, it is taller than Johnson’s Mound!

Highest Point in Kane County

Here is a photograph of the hill labeled “1018″.  This is probably the highest point in Kane County, on Townhall Road, about one mile south of State Highway 64, looking north.  The largest pine tree, in the middle of the photo, marks the spot!

High Point Lane

Here is another possibility, High Point Lane – about a quarter of a mile west of “1018″.  My GPS indicated the same elevation here – 1024-1038.  The radio tower in the background is off of Townhall road, a couple hundred yards from “1018″.  It’s top may be the highest point in the county, however there is another tower south west of here – this second tower is at a lower elevation but is taller, as can be seen in this photo:

Hills from Anderson Road

Here is a view of the hills from Anderson Road, looking east.  The shorter (looking) tower to the left is the one in the “High Point Lane” photograph above.  As can be seen, these hills don’t really “stick out” like Johnson’s Mound, below:

Johnson's Mound

Johnson’s Mound, 898 feet elevation, looking towards the north east.  This is the most distinctive hill in Kane County, and often mistaken for it’s highest point.  The hills above, however, are over 100 feet higher!

I took this photo at Nelson Lake Marsh (Dick Young Forest Preserve) on October 20, 2009 – the colors were just coming out.  It wasn’t a particularly good year for max color – the maples were great, super bright yellow, however overall it was muted and short.  I took this picture because I liked the subtle range of colors – not bright – especially the mauve in the tallest tree – quite an odd color!  At this time there was still a lot of green, some plants had lost all there leaves and some were in some stage of color.  In fact, this fall everything seemed dragged out – things still green when others had already lost all their foliage.  That can clearly be seen in this image, with the green grass and trees in the background, some bare trees and some with color!

Subtle Autumn Color

Self Made Man - Bobbie Carlyle

This is my favorite piece of public art in downtown Batavia – not that there’s a lot to choose from!  This is a sculpture by Bobbie Carlyle, installed on River Street in 1996.  It is, as can be seen, a larger than life-size bronze carving himself out of stone – “Bobbie Carlyle’s vision of Self Made Man is a man carving himself out of stone, carving his character, carving his future” – Bobby Carlyle Sculpure website.  It is difficult to get a good photograph, the background is quite busy.  On this snowy day I was able to get a total grey background, which I changed to black to bring out his form.

As for public sculpture in Batavia, the new Wilson Street bridge will eventually have four pieces installed.  One is up already, very nice but also difficult to photograph.  “Sun-Beams” by Kathryn Breisch, another Batavia Mainstreet Calender Photo Contest winner, is about the best I’ve seen.  I look forward to seeing the other three sculptures whenever they are installed!

I walked down to the Batavia Riverwalk and the Challenge Dam around noon today and took some photos.  Still using my old 50mm lens, no word on when my digital lens will be out of the shop.  Another great thing about this time of year is that you can actually take a decent picture during the middle of the day – nice shadows and low angled light even at noon!  Here is a photo of the dam taken at as slow a shutter speed as I could manage without having it wash out – ISO 200, f/16, 1/60 sec.  If you look closely you can see a line of unhappy geese in the water above the dam:

Challenge Dam, Batavia Illinois Jan 1, 2010