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Magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattles parts of northern Illinois, USGS and police say

But you know, uh another big talker this morning has been that *** 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit part of our state early this morning. And Mike is in the weather center with more on that first or 42 AM Anita in Illinois’s smallest county that would be Putnam County. It’s quite *** bit southwest of Chicago. But this earthquake has been felt in mchenry County. It’s been felt in Cook County Will County Cane County, uh really kind of an unusual event. We don’t get *** lot of earthquakes in northern Illinois, but we do get them from time to time. So, where did it exactly happen? Well, we’re gonna go into the Illinois River Valley into Putnam County. See the town of Granville just east of there, off of the highway 71 is the town of Standard. And that’s basically where the epicenter of this 3.6 earthquake took place. Now, we don’t hear *** lot about fault lines running through Illinois, but there are some reasons why earthquakes happen in this area and here to talk *** little bit more about what likely triggered that my good friend, Professor Ron Rey retired from the College of Lake County, but *** geology professor and expert in these things. Ron, thanks for joining us this morning. What do you suspect is *** likely cause of this earthquake? Uh You’re saying it may date back to things that happened in the ice age. You’re exactly right, Mike. Uh The, the glaciers were of course, almost *** mile thick in some areas. And that weight depressed the surface of the earth significantly and the glaciers have been gone now for thousands of years. And that relaxing and the relief from the weight having been lifted has allowed cracks or fractures or faults in the bedrock below to of course, adjust and that’s what we’re dealing with. Nothing major. We’ll, we’ll get them from time to time up in this part of the state. The, the sandwich fault zone and the Plum Creek fault zone are likely candidates for this particular earthquake. Ron what determines how far away an earthquake can be felt, as I mentioned. Uh even though this happened in central Illinois, *** lot of folks in Chicago that have been telling me on Facebook, hey, I felt it here too. Uh It, it varies, the bedrock is not solid. There are fractures in many different locations and it depends on which one of the, which which of those fractures, you know, adjust. Um So it could be, it could be 50 miles away. It could even be 100 miles away, but it depends upon what’s below your part of the countryside? Of course, there are going to be some people that are saying, look at what’s happening in Iceland. The, the whole earth is shaking apart. Please dispel those rumors right now for us. Well, we don’t have to worry about what’s going on in Iceland. But the New Mad Fall system in southern Illinois is part of *** major fall system that runs from Canada down south to the southwest under our state. But even that’s not involved in what we’re experiencing up here, that’s not even involved. So it’s, these are old, very local fractures and weakness stones in the crust down below us. And they are still shifting because of the relaxation of the crust. Half of the glaciers and the weight of those glaciers melt away. The investigation. I’m sure is going to continue into this earthquake. Uh What will geologists with the US GS and other academic agencies be doing in the hours and days moving forward to look into more about this particular earthquake? Well, they’re going to look at other earthquakes. We, we felt that one in this area so well, some people did, but they’re going to follow up on, on *** any aftershocks and see if they can put together *** bigger picture of the seismic activity in this region. All right. And is there any reason to suspect that there would be some palpable aftershocks from this quake or *** 3.6? Is so small that, uh, anything that happens after this is gonna be negligible, may, maybe your dog will feel it. That’s about right. Yeah. Some, sometimes the animals do feel these ahead of humans. Uh, but the af aftershocks are probably gonna be minor compared to this one as *** geologist. Uh, Ron in the 15 seconds that we have left. Do you feel cheated that you didn’t feel it there in your own home? I slept right through it. Michael.

Magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattles parts of northern Illinois, USGS and police say

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattled parts of northern Illinois early Wednesday, awakening some residents and spurring reports to 911 about homes shaking, the U.S. Geological Survey and police said.The small earthquake was detected about 4:41 a.m. local time and was centered about sixth-tenths of a mile south-southeast of Standard, Illinois, the federal agency said.The town is located about 100 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.The temblor occurred about 2.9 miles below the Earth’s surface, the USGS said.Local police agencies said they had received no reports of damage due to the earthquake.Administrative Lt. Doug Bernabei with the Peru Police Department, located several miles north of Standard, said he was up making coffee when his house shook. Suspecting it might be a quake, he turned on his police radio and heard numerous calls coming into 911 dispatch from residents.“We received voluminous amounts of 911 calls. It was literally one call after another,” he said. “It shook my house. It wasn’t a rattle, I thought something hit the house. A lot of people were waking up.”Bernabei said he had not heard of any reports of damage because of the quake. He said Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch based in Peru and which covers several north-central Illinois communities received many dozens of calls from residents who felt the quake.A USGS earthquake map indicated that the shaking may have extended into parts southern Wisconsin, southeastern Iowa and northwest Indiana.Randy Simpson, a dispatcher for Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center, said dispatchers on duty at the time received numerous calls from people who felt the ground shaking or the noise of their homes rattling. There were no reports of damage, he said.Simpson, who lives in Mendota about 16 miles north of Standard, said he was up watching TV and didn’t feel the quake. But a friend who lives in the same community texted him to say he had just felt an earthquake and that his house shook.“He said, ‘Did you feel that?’ And I was like ‘Feel what?’” Simpson said.

STANDARD, Ill. —

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattled parts of northern Illinois early Wednesday, awakening some residents and spurring reports to 911 about homes shaking, the U.S. Geological Survey and police said.

The small earthquake was detected about 4:41 a.m. local time and was centered about sixth-tenths of a mile south-southeast of Standard, Illinois, the federal agency said.

The town is located about 100 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.

The temblor occurred about 2.9 miles below the Earth’s surface, the USGS said.

Local police agencies said they had received no reports of damage due to the earthquake.

Administrative Lt. Doug Bernabei with the Peru Police Department, located several miles north of Standard, said he was up making coffee when his house shook. Suspecting it might be a quake, he turned on his police radio and heard numerous calls coming into 911 dispatch from residents.

“We received voluminous amounts of 911 calls. It was literally one call after another,” he said. “It shook my house. It wasn’t a rattle, I thought something hit the house. A lot of people were waking up.”

Bernabei said he had not heard of any reports of damage because of the quake. He said Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch based in Peru and which covers several north-central Illinois communities received many dozens of calls from residents who felt the quake.

A USGS earthquake map indicated that the shaking may have extended into parts southern Wisconsin, southeastern Iowa and northwest Indiana.

Randy Simpson, a dispatcher for Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center, said dispatchers on duty at the time received numerous calls from people who felt the ground shaking or the noise of their homes rattling. There were no reports of damage, he said.

Simpson, who lives in Mendota about 16 miles north of Standard, said he was up watching TV and didn’t feel the quake. But a friend who lives in the same community texted him to say he had just felt an earthquake and that his house shook.

“He said, ‘Did you feel that?’ And I was like ‘Feel what?’” Simpson said.