Earthquake shakes northwest Illinois while many sleep

By Jim Hagerty
Staff Writer

Although the earthquake that rattled parts of northwest Illinois, including the Rockford area, early Wednesday morning did not come with disaster, it was a significant shake for the Midwest and one of only three in more than two decades.

The 3.8-magnitude earthquake was reported by the U.S. Geological Survey at 3:59 a.m. It was centered in a farm near the city of Elgin, about 40 miles west of Chicago. The quake also was felt in Wisconsin, Iowa and at least four other states.

With earthquakes and disaster in Haiti still fresh in the minds of most people, Wednesday’s mild quake has caused a considerable buzz. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook clipped with morning posts about the tremor, and it was a hot topic near water coolers.

Morning chatter, although slightly light in descriptions of fear, did include some accounts of confusion and sounds similar to a loud snowplow.

“I was awakened by a rumbling that seemed to get closer and closer,” Mark Adamany of Rockford said. “(Our) whole house shook for a few seconds.”

Others reported strange behavior from their pets. Some remained nestled from the snow. About a foot fell in the Chicago-Rockford area Tuesday, Feb.9.

At least one Twitter member expressed frustration about missing the action.

“D–NIT. This is the second Illinois earthquake I’ve slept through,” one tweet read.

Several earthquakes have been reported in Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela and Eureka, Calif., in recent months. The quake in Haiti, at 7.0 ,was 1,600 times the magnitude of the one reported in Illinois this morning.