Earthquake strikes region
UPDATED at 9:30 a.m.- A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck the area at 4:36 a.m. Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site.
Originally the USGS reported the quake to be a 5.4 magnitude on the Richter Scale.
As of 9 a.m., the epicenter of the quake was listed as seven miles north, northeast of Bellmont.
Bellmont is located in Wabash County, approximately 90 miles from Charleston.
No reports of damage or injury have been filed in Coles County, said Tom Watson, director of the Coles County Emergency Management Agency.
“The 911 Center received over 100 calls immediately following the earthquake,” Watson said.
Mark Hudson, Director of Housing and Dining services, who is at the State Housing Directors meeting in Dekalb said he did not feel the earthquake.
Hudson spoke to campus officials around 6:50 a.m. and there were no injuries or damage reported, he said.
The USGS initially reported the epicenter as West Salem, approximately 83 miles from Charleston in Edwards County and later reported the epicenter as Mount Carmel, approximately 96 miles from Charleston in Wabash County.
According to the Charleston Times-Courier,
Friday’s quake was larger than the magnitude 5.3 event in 1968 that had its epicenter in Hamilton County in Southern Illinois.
The Associated Press reported the earthquake was felt in Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Des Moines, Iowa. The quake occurred in the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region that covers parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas and stretches from Indianapolis and St. Louis to Memphis, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
