3.6 earthquake reported in Putnam County, Illinois, US Geological Survey says
PUTNAM COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- A 3.6 earthquake struck part of Illinois Wednesday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The earthquake struck at about 4:41 a.m. and was centered south of the village of Standard in Putnam County near the border with LaSalle County, the USGS said.
The USGS said the earthquake had an estimated depth of 3.6 kilometers.
Kathy Casstevens lives in Utica and said the shaking woke her up.
"Well, I woke up to an earthquake, which you don't really think of it as such because you don't know what you're feeling when you're feeling it," she said. "But it lasted about six seconds. It started out with a light tremor than a heavier one and then light tremors.
Many people said they've never experienced an earthquake out there, so they had no idea what that sound was around.
""Sometimes, you doubt what you're feeling. You don't know if it's your house, or a neighbor's house, or maybe they blasted at one of our quarry here, but this was different," Casstevens said.
One viewer sent video from inside their home in Earlville, with the earthquake shaking a pinball machine. Thankfully that seems to be the worst of it as we haven't seen any significant damage here in LaSalle and surrounding areas.
One homeowner said the shaking lasted about 5 to 10 seconds.
"They thought either a truck hit their house or their kid fell out of bed, so to think that and then compare it to have actually be an earthquake it's like 'Oh my gosh' and that's only a 3.6 magnitude scale so I can only imagine what it would be like if it was anything bigger than that," resident Zanina Hall said.
The LaSalle County Sheriff's Office said they have received calls from people who felt the shaking, but there are no reports of damage there.
Illinois averages one earthquake a year. The state also averages an earthquake that produces minor damage every 20 years.
Some recent notable earthquakes include a 3.8 earthquake on Feb. 10, 2010 in Pingree Grove and a 5.2 earthquake on April 18, 2008 in Mt. Carmel.
The largest earthquake recorded in illinois was a 5.4 earthquake in Hamilton County on November 9, 1958.
A professor from Northeastern Illinois University said these earthquakes are a sign of the earth relaxing from glaciers that happened hundreds of years ago.
"As the glaciers retreated, it's kind of like as you get off a foam bed or some sort of cushion, it sort of takes a while for that to rebound and raise up to the shape it had before all that weight was on it," said Dr. Kyle Brill.
The good news that no significant damage and or injuries have been reported.
