On Wednesday, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck Northern Illinois in Chicago, and the police department has received a voluminous amount of 911 calls about homes shaking, as reported by the US Geological Survey and police.
The federal agency reported that the small-scale earthquake was detected at about 4.41 am local time. The earthquake was concentrated about six-tenths of a mile (1km) south-south-east of Standard, Illinois, a town about 100 miles (161km) southwest of downtown Chicago.
Magnitude 3.6 Earthquake Struck Northern Illinois
Jessica Jobe, a research geologist with USGS, reported the quake was felt even to people living as far away as southern Wisconsin, south-eastern Iowa, and northwest Indiana. The earthquake happened about 2.9 miles below the Earth's surface.
She said the impact of the shaking went weak to moderate across the region, but there were no reports of damage.
Jobe added that despite no records of large quakes in Northern Illinois and no existing fault zone in the region, minor to moderate earthquakes could still occur anywhere and anytime in the Eastern US.
Administrative Lt Doug Bernabei, with the Peru police department situated north of Standard, said he was making coffee when he felt his house shake. He suspected an earthquake and received numerous 911 calls from the residents after a few minutes of turning on his radio phone.
He said they had received many 911 calls and described that the earthquake shook his house, not just some rattle, as the impact woke the residents.
Bernabei reported that Illinois Valley regional dispatch based in Peru, which covers various north-central Illinois communities, has received dozens of calls from residents who felt the quake.
Randy Simpson, a dispatcher for the Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center, said the reports were typically about the ground shaking and the noise of their homes rattling.
Simpson, who lives in Mendota about 16 miles north of Standard, said he was watching television when the earthquake happened but did not feel anything. However, his friend texted him that his house shook and felt the quake.
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Earthquakes in Illinois
Earthquake Track showed two earthquakes have occurred in the past 24 hours. Furthermore, ten earthquakes in the past seven days, fourteen in the past 30 days, and a total of one hundred thirty-nine earthquakes in the past 365 days.
Since 2022, Illinois already had 272 earthquakes of magnitude up to 3.6. Furthermore, 153 earthquakes were detected below magnitude two, which people do not normally feel.
The latest earthquake occurred 8 km in the Northwest of Tiptonville, Tennessee, in the last 11 hours and recorded a magnitude of 1.5. The strongest earthquake recorded was a magnitude of 3.6 in 19 mi Southwest of Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois, USA, in the last 15 hours.
