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A bit of shakin' going on

Yes, we in the Midwest have earthquakes.

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake occurred at 4:37 a.m. CDT, and was centered about 115 miles east of Belleville, and six miles from West Salem in Edwards County, Ill. It was felt in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis.

I managed to sleep through that earthquake, but I most definitely felt an aftershock from this morning's earthquake. It hit the region at 10:15 a.m., almost six hours after a magnitude 5.2 quake struck the Midwest at 4:37 a.m. That registered at 4.5 magnitude. Another hit two hours after the initial quake, at 6:55 a.m., registering 2.6.

So far, there aren't many reports of major damage. Here are some stories:

• Belleville News-Democrat
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch

While my part of the world isn't as notorious for earthquakes as California, we have our share here. The most famous is the New Madrid, Mo., earthquake on Feb. 7, 1812. That quake caused shifted the course of the Mississippi River and create numerous lakes. More than 4,00o reports of quakes since 1974 have been made in the region shown below:

Labels: Illinois, nature, St. Louis

Roger 2 comments links to this post 10:58 AM