Downstate Illinois Residents Awoken By Earthquake
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (CBS) -- A 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck in southeast Missouri Tuesday morning, and was felt in parts of downstate Illinois.
CBS affiliate KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Mo., reported the earthquake was centered 15 miles north-northwest of the town of Potosi in Washington County, Mo., in a wooded area. It reportedly happened at a depth of 3.2 miles, KFVS reported.
On the station's Facebook page, several residents of Southern Illinois reported feeling the earthquake.
"I felt it in Chester, Ill.," one Facebook user wrote. "It was quick and scared me and I wasn't sure what it was. It didn't last as long as the last one."
"In Murphysboro, felt it," another user wrote. "Didn't know what it was at first."
There were no immediate reports of anyone feeling the earthquake in the Chicago area.
But three earthquakes have indeed been felt in the Chicago area in the past three years. The most recent was on Dec. 30 of last year, when Chicagoans felt a 3.8-magnitude earthquake centered about 15 miles east-southeast of Kokomo, Ind. and about 50 miles north-northeast of Indianapolis.
The epicenter was five miles southeast of the rural town of Greentown in Howard County, Ind. There was no serious damage or injuries, but a lot of shaking.
On Feb. 11, 2010, a 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck an epicenter 1 mile south-southeast of Pingree Grove, which is about 40 miles northwest of Chicago.
No serious damage was reported, but many people reported thinking they heard an explosion when the earthquake struck.
CBS 2's Mary Kay Kleist was preparing the morning's weather forecasts at the CBS 2 Broadcast Center at the time, when lights started moving in the studio, and, "suddenly, I thought a truck was going to hit the building."
On April 18, 2008, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck with an epicenter about 7 miles from downstate Mt. Carmel, about 230 miles south of Chicago. That earthquake was felt around the state, including in Chicago. Downtown skyscrapers shook, but damage was mostly seen downstate.
