5.2 Earthquake Hits Midwest

By Diane Smith
11:18, April 19th 2008
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5.2 Earthquake Hits Midwest

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit southern Illinois Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed.

Although the tremor was felt by people almost 900 miles away from the epicenter, there were no reports of major damage. The quake struck Illinois at about 4:36 a.m. (5:36 a.m. ET).

Nevertheless, there was some minor damage across the state. A woman was trapped under a collapsed porch in Mount Carmel according to The Associated Press. Fortunately she wasn’t injured and was taken from under the porch quickly.

The quake caused debris to fall on a sidewalk in Louisville, Kentucky, and a cornice fell off a brick building, according to a recorded broadcasted by CNN affiliate WHAS-TV.

Police departments across the part of the state struck by the earthquake said they were flooded with calls to their emergency lines from worried residents.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the tremor was about seven kilometers northeast of the town of Belmont (central Illinois).

The quake was felt even in Chicago (Illinois), where it shook the town’s skyscrapers, and also
in Des Moines, Iowa’s capital, were it rattled the windows of the buildings.

The quake was reportedly followed by six aftershocks, which have been recorded until noon on Friday. The largest aftershock registered 4.6 on the Richter scale, said USGS Information Specialist Keith A. Brady.

The region hit by the quake is the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region, according to the U.S. Geological survey, which added that the largest tremor to hit that part of the state measured 5.4 on the Richter scale and occurred in 1968.



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