5.2 earthquake rocks Illinois; felt 450 miles away

Residents across the Midwest were awakened today by a 5.2 magnitude earthquake that rattled skyscrapers in Chicago's Loop and homes in Cincinnati but appeared to cause no major injuries or damage.

The quake just before 4:37 a.m. was centered six miles from West Salem, Ill., and 45 miles from Evansville, Ind. It was felt in such distant cities as Milwaukee, Des Moines, Iowa, and Atlanta, nearly 400 miles to the southeast.

The U.S. Geological Survey says dozens of aftershocks are rumbling through an already-shaken Midwest.

USGS Geologist Gary Patterson says the most powerful aftershock happened around 10:20 a.m. and had a 4.5-magnitude.

It was reportedly felt in at least three states.

Deborah Finley, a writer from Island Lake, was home alone and working at her desk at about 4:30 a.m. when her chair started shaking. She thought maybe her furnace was about to blow up.

More coverage 1811 New Madrid quake Video What did you feel? Join our commenting community below and tell us your story about this morning's earthquake.

"I thought, 'This is really weird. #8230; Am I imagining this because I'm sleep-deprived?'" she said.

Then the floor started shaking.

"I'm not a paranoid person or anything like that. But I didn't know what to think," Finley said.

In Mount Carmel, 15 southeast of the epicenter, a woman was trapped in her home by a collapsed porch but was quickly freed and wasn't hurt, said Mickie Smith, a dispatcher at the police department. The department took numerous other calls, though none reported anything more serious than objects knocked off walls and out of shelves, she said.

Also in Mount Carmel, a two-story apartment building was evacuated because of loose and falling bricks. Police cordoned off the building, a 1904 school converted to residences.

Dennis Ehrhardt of Carol Stream was just waking up when he felt the bed shaking. Then the handles on his dresser started clanking against it.But Ehrhardt remembered feeling a tremor from the New Madrid fault in the late 1980s and suspected that could be what it was again.But farther south the tremors were even more pronounced."It shook our house where it woke me up," said David Behm of Philo, 10 miles south of Champaign. "Windows were rattling, and you could hear it. The house was shaking inches. For people in central Illinois, this is a big deal. It's not like California."Bonnie Lucas, a morning co-host at WHO-AM in Des Moines, said she was sitting in her office when she felt her chair move. She grabbed her desk, and then heard the ceiling panels start to creak. The shaking lasted about 5 seconds, she said.The quake is believed to have involved the Wabash fault, a northern extension of the New Madrid fault about six miles north of Mount Carmel, Ill., said United States Geological Survey geophysicist Randy Baldwin.The last earthquake in the region to approach the severity of Friday's temblor was a 5.0 magnitude quake that shook a nearby area in 2002, Baldwin said."This is a fairly large quake for this region," he said. "They might occur every few years."Initially reported as a 5.4-magnitude earthquake, the USGS revised its estimate to 5.2. Two aftershocks during the next three hours measured 2.6 and a 2.5."This was widely felt, all the way to Atlanta, a little bit in Michigan," said USGS geophysicist Carrieann Bedwell.In Cincinnati, Irvetta McMurtry said she felt the rattling for up to 20 seconds."All of a sudden, I was awakened by this rumbling shaking," said McMurtry, 43. "My bed is an older wood frame bed, so the bed started to creak and shake, and it was almost like somebody was taking my mattress and moving it back and forth."Lucas Griswold, a dispatcher in West Salem, said the Edwards County sheriff's department received reports of minor damage and no injuries."Oh, yeah, I felt it. It was interesting," Griswold said. "A lot of shaking."In Louisville, Ky., the quake caused some bricks to fall off a building near downtown. Television video showed them strewn in the street.In Chicago, officials were checking structures downtown to ensure there was no damage. The quake also shook skyscrapers in downtown Indianapolis, about 160 miles northeast of the epicenter.The strongest earthquake on record with an epicenter in Illinois occurred in 1968, when a 5.3-magnitude temblor was recorded about 75 miles southeast of St. Louis, according the USGS. The damage was minor but widespread and there were no serious injuries.In 1811 and 1812, the New Madrid fault produced a series of earthquakes estimated at magnitude 7.0 or greater said to be felt as far away as Boston. They were centered in the Missouri town of New Madrid (pronounced MAD rid), 140 miles southeast of St. Louis.Experts say that with the much higher population in the Midwest, another major quake along the New Madrid fault zone could destroy buildings, bridges, roads and other infrastructure, disrupt communications and isolate areas.Editor's note: Join our commenting community below and tell us what you felt this morning. Editor's note: Join our commenting community below and tell us what you felt this morning. 333512Mike Dunkel, 57, owner of the Wagon Wheel Discount Liquor cleans up damaged stock in his Mt. Carmelthis morning.Associated Press 422512Rubble from earthquake damage to a building lies strewn along a sidewalk in an old section of Louisville, Ky.Associated Press 512333Janet Clem, 37, looks at the damage to her home in Mt. Carmel this morning after the quake.Associated Press