4.3 Earthquake NEAR ME!

[Mind Driver]

This is a first for me......it woke me up!

Feb 10, 2010 5:35 am US/Central
4.3-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Far West Suburbs
Earthquake Was Centered In Virgil, Ill.
VIRGIL, Ill. (CBS) ―

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake hit early Wednesday in the far western suburbs.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 3:59 a.m. in the Kane County town Virgil, about 48 miles west of Chicago.

Kane County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler says dispatchers have been flooded with calls from startled residents, though no injuries or damage have been reported.

Gengler says several residential and business alarms were triggered, but deputies hadn't been called for assistance.

National Earthquake Center geophysicist Randy Baldwin said as of 5 a.m., there had been no reports of any damage.

"I guess if there is damage, it would probably be light, or something based upon fallen objects or something like that," he said.

A 4.3-magnitude quake wouldn't be expected to do severe damage, Baldwin said.

"It would have been felt by many people indoors, and it would have felt like a vibration due to a heavily-loaded passing truck or something like that," Baldwin said.

The earthquake was felt widely throughout the region, as far away as Iowa, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, Baldwin said.

Residents reported being shaken out of bed and finding books and tools scattered across the floor after falling from shelves.

Viewers have been sending e-mails and Twitter postings by the dozen about the quake. They reported feeling the earthquake in Elgin, Bolingbrook, Naperville, and several other far west, northwest and southwest suburbs.

"Out of nowhere, my house started to shake very hard for about 10 seconds then stopped, then went again for about 8-10 seconds… I didn't know what was going on," wrote viewer Nick Howson of Hoffman Estates. "I thought a snow plow might have crashed into my house."

Viewer Y. Dinwiddie of Batavia wrote: "It was so violent that a basket full of clothes that was sitting on our dryer was thrown to the floor, our sump pump was activated and our sons were awakened. We went all through the house, worried that perhaps a tree fell in the yard or something, but there had been no sounds except our bed creaking and things falling off shelves."

One viewer even reported feeling the earthquake in the city of Chicago.

"I live in a three story house in Hyde Park and I could feel the attic moving back and forth!" wrote Twitter user Kiratiana.

This was the second earthquake to strike in Illinois in the past two years. 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.

The next most recent severe earthquake in the area hit in 1968. That earthquake had a magnitude of 5.3.

Those earthquakes were both centered on the New Madrid fault downstate. The area where the Wednesday morning earthquake struck is not nearly as active as the New Madrid fault, but it has seen other earthquake activity in recent years.

There was a 4.2-magnitude earthquake in the area in June 2004, and before that, a 3.0-magnitude earthquake in 1985, Baldwin said.

In 1811 and 1812, the New Madrid fault produced a series of earthquakes estimated at magnitude 7.0 or greater.

The Wabash fault zone, which is a northward extension of the New Madrid fault line, generated a magnitude 5.0 quake in 2002 and a 5.1 in 1987.

In 1990, scientist Iben Browning said the New Madrid fault line was due for a catastrophic earthquake, but that never happened.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Original_Shifty]

Yeah, I thought in N.A. the earthquakes are on the West Coast. We had a doozey in Ottawa when we were living there. We were watching a movie and it was like a plane crashed into the front of the building. Suprised us more than scared us. I guess Earth's plates crack and bend everywhere, eh?

[JustAFan]

Oh come on....4.3 is just a tickler! If you live in California, like I did most of my life we have 100's of those daily.

Now when you get in the high 5's and 6's, then you got something to talk about!

Forgive me though, I don't mean to minimize this. The first quake for anybody can be a scary thing for sure.

[Micah68]

shake rattle and roll ...

[cinderella]

We had an earthquake here in Virginia on December 18, 2009.
It was 60 miles south of me.

2.0


The largest earthquake in Virginia was in May of 1897.

5.9

[yesyadda]

Cool!

[Original_Shifty]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

[Timmo]

The small ones are kinda fun.

The big ones....not so much. Northridge scared the crap out of me.

I haven't felt one in a while. For the last two that we had (smallish), the first I was in my car and the second I was in an elevator, so I didn't feel them.

[Mind Driver]

It was no big deal.

I heard a boom, the house shook for about ten seconds, then it stopped.

I didn't hear anything that would make me think the house was collapsing, so I went back to sleep.