The quake struck just before 4:37 a.m. Central Daylight Time about six miles (10 km) from West Salem, Ill., and was felt as far away as Atlanta, nearly 400 miles (640 km) to the southeast.
A chimney on one home in New Salem fell during the shaking, and there were reports of cracks in walls. "We're very thankful we had no one injured," said Harvey Fenton, the town's police and fire chief.
The Associated Press reports that 15 miles to the southeast, in Mount Carmel, a woman was trapped in her home by a collapsed porch, but she was quickly freed and wasn't injured.
Bricks broke loose from buildings as far away as Louisville, Ky, but none of the damage across the region was significant.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) says the quake occurred in the Wabash Valley Seismic zone, which is part of the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region. A USGS poster of the quake was released on Friday afternoon.
The Illinois basin - Ozark dome region covers parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas and stretches from Indianapolis and St. Louis to Memphis. Moderate size earthquakes occur at irregular intervals throughout the region. This large region borders the much more seismically active New Madrid seismic zone to the south and west.
