June 14, 2019

Precautionary measures were put into place at the Eastlake Plant and at the Perry Nuclear Plant, following an earthquake that struck in Lake Erie just before 11 a.m., Monday, June 10.

The earthquake’s epicenter was just 2.5 miles northeast of Eastlake. The quake measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, the strongest quake to hit Ohio in more than 30 years, and among the strongest ever recorded in the state.

“We could definitely feel it in the plant,” said Mark Osburn, Eastlake Synchronous Condenser supervisor. “We had spikes on our vibration monitors, and I went to the control room immediately.”

At the time, Mobile Maintenance workers were starting work removing heat exchangers in the plant basement. “First thing I did after leaving the control room was to head down to where Mobile Maintenance was working to make sure they were all okay. People felt different things in different parts of the plant,” Mark said. “Some described it as a jolt, or like something falling, and others felt it as a horizontal shift.”

Eastlake workers immediately began a walkdown of the plant to ensure all equipment was operating properly and no physical damage had occurred.

Similar precautions were put into place at the Perry Plant, 19 miles east of Eastlake. The plant entered an enhanced operating condition while workers walked down the plant to ensure there was no damage to equipment or structures.

No damage was reported at either plant.