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Even though Michigan is considered aseismic, a large crack in the Menominee Forest in 2010 left the residents and the scientists perplexed. Six years later, geologists think they know what happened inside the forest that fateful day. In a recent study, Michigan Technology University researchers tried to find out how the crack formed, in the first place.

On 4^th October 2010 morning, the residents that lived near Menominee Forest felt the ground shuddering followed by a loud noise. Soon people discovered that a large crack has split the earth in two. Michigan Tech's College of Engineering dean, Wayne Pennington, took the task of identifying the source of this crack. After investigating, he noted that the crack is 361 feet long, two feet wide and as deep as five feet in some spots. He also noticed a six-foot high ridge under the crack that appeared at the same time as the crack. "The crack itself was not as important to note as the ridge," said Pennington. The ridge means a deeper structure, also known as a pop-up or A-tent because of its shape, reported Tech Times

"We wanted to look into the crack because we could not find information in the literature on pop-up structures forming outside specific areas," Wayne Pennington, study leader from Michigan Tech, said in the university's release. "As far as we can tell, this is a one-of-a-kind event; but in case it is not, we wanted the information about it to be available for other investigators."

Even though the researchers know what the Menominee Crack is, its reason still is a mystery, more so in Michigan since the region does not receive earthquakes. The researchers say that this happens when a high amount of pressure is relieved and it can happen unexpectedly. They also added that this phenomenon could also have been resulted due to removal of a large tree from the area, says Nature World News