An earthquake has occurred in the west suburbs near Geneva early Wednesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Information on the quake from the United States Geological Survey HERE
At 3:59 a.m. an earthquake of a preliminary magnitude of 4.3 hit an area about five miles east of Sycamore, or about 4 miles west/northwest from Virgil, according to USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughn.
Vaughn also said the quake was located near west suburban Elgin or Geneva.
People have reported feeling the earthquake in Elgin, Bolingbrook, Naperville, and several other far west, northwest and southwest suburbs.
Vaughn said she has not heard of anyone being injured and does not know about damages as of 4:20 a.m. The quake appears to be is bona fide.
“We have it as a seismic event,’’ according to Vaughn who said the USGS phone lines are flooded.
“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.”
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.
In 1811 and 1812, the 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.
“It’s mostly people who said ‘we woke up and we thought we were going crazy,’’’ Vaughn with gthe USGS said of the phone calls the USGS is receiving. “Mostly it’s rattling people awake,’’ she said of the earthquake.
“It’s going to be very widely felt,’’ Vaughn said.
Sycamore Police Department Dep. Laura Fink said she received lots of calls about the quake but that there were no reports of anyone hurt or any significant property damage.
Fink said she felt the quake in police headquarters. “It sounded like a big explosion,” she said. “There was a big jump.”
Fink said the quake happened about eight miles northeast of her.
At 4 a.m., Nathan Marsili a meteorologist for the National Weather Service said he felt a “very short, very minor, but distinct shock” in his office.
A dispatcher from the Boone County Sheriff’s Department said she felt two quiet rumbles which lasted 10 seconds altogether. As of 4:30 a.m., she had not received any calls from people hurt or significant property damage caused by the earthquake.
Police News Affairs Officer Ronald Gaines confirmed the quake, saying it occurred in DeKalb, and said he has not received any reports of injuries or damages as of 4:30 a.m.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.