From July 25, 2002: A worker watches rescue members prepare a special 30-inch drill brought in to rescue nine workers trapped below in the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County. (Tribune-Review file)
Tribune-Review
8:40 p.m.: Nine miners are trapped 240 feet underground at the Quecreek Mine after drilling into an abandoned coal seam, causing millions of gallons of icy water to gush into the mine.
9:30-9:50 p.m.: Various state and federal officials are notified and rescue planning immediately begins.
10 p.m.: State police, ambulance and fire services respond to the site and miners’ families are told to meet at the nearby Sipesville Fire Hall.
10:20 p.m.: Through the remainder of the night, various company, local, state and federal officials arrive on scene
3:30 a.m.: Rescue workers hear tapping from the area where the miners are trapped.
11:30 a.m.: Once again, workers hear tapping.
2:30 p.m.: A drilling rig large enough to bore a rescue shaft arrives from a mine in West Virginia.
6 p.m.: Crews begin drilling a tunnel to reach miners.
2 a.m.: A drill bit becomes embedded in rock about 100 feet down and breaks.
11:10 a.m.: Digging with new equipment begins on a second shaft about 75 feet from the first.
4:45 p.m.: The broken bit is removed from the first rescue tunnel.
8 p.m.: Drilling resumes on first rescue tunnel.
3 p.m.: The tunnel reaches a depth of 224 feet, less than 20 feet from the area where the miners are trapped.
10:15 p.m.: Rescue workers make contact with the trapped miners with a telephone lowered down the rescue tunnel.
11:35 p.m.: Gov. Mark Schweiker confirms that all nine miners are alive.
12:30 a.m.: Emergency supplies are lowered to the miners in a steel cage – 8½ feet tall and about 24 inches in diameter – which is then used to pull the miners up one by one.
1 a.m.: Miner Randy Fogle is the first to reach the surface during the rescue operations.
2:45 a.m.: The ninth miner- Mark Popernack, arrives at the surface.
The U.S. Dept. of Labor finds outdated and inaccurate maps that dated back to 1957 led to the Quecreek mine accident.
State and federal grand juries decide to not bring criminal charges against the owners of the Quecreek mine and its operators.
The Quecreek Mine is dedicated as a state historical site.
Eight of nine miners settle a lawsuit against the Quecreek Mine, the company that ran it and the firm that certified the maps used by the miners. Under the terms of the settlement, the monetary award to the miners remains confidential.
The 15th anniversary of the rescue of the nine miners from the Quecreek mine is marked by a community celebration.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources and Tribune-Review Archives
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• ‘A complete miracle’: The 20th anniversary of the Quecreek Mine rescue
• How rescuers saved the trapped Quecreek miners
Coming this weekend
• ‘77 Hours of Sheer Hell’: Former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker says Quecreek rescue proof miracles do happen
• ‘Burst of joy’: Good feelings still reverberate 20 years after first word that Quecreek miners were alive
• A lasting change: Mine safety emerged as top priority after Queecreek accident