You shook me all night long
Yes, I was awakened by the earthquake last night. I was awakened from a deep sleep and at first I thought that there was an intruder in the house. And then I realized that the rhythmic noise I heard was my closet doors rattling, caused by the whole house shaking. It took me a minute to realize the shaking wasn’t caused by a passing train, a large truck, or severe weather. So then I realized it was an earthquake.
I wondered whether it was a nearby small earthquake or a distant large earthquake.
So, In the morning, I found out it was 5.2 on the Richter scale and over a 100 miles away.
Update: Here’s Channel 20’s story on it:
WEST SALEM, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey says this morning’s 5.2-magnitude earthquake was likely generated by the Wabash fault zone in southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana.
USGS geophysicist Carrieann Bedwell says the quake about six miles from West Salem, Illinois occurred in a northward extension of the New Madrid fault area.
The fault is the country’s most active seismic zone east of the Rockies and produces numerous small quakes a year, but most are too weak to be noticed by the public.
In 1811 and 1812, the fault it produced a series of earthquakes estimated at magnitude 7.0 or greater.
The Wabash fault zone generated a magnitude 5.0 quake in 2002 and a 5.1 in 1987.
This morning’s sizable temblor was felt from Georgia to Michigan, but no major damage has been reported in Illinois.
