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* I was up at 4 o’clock and felt a little something, but figured it was lack of sleep. Nope…
The 4.3 magnitude quake, centered 48 miles west of Chicago near the city of Sycamore, hit at 4 a.m. local time at a depth of about 3 miles.
“The whole house shook,” Walter Mockus of St. Charles told the Chicago Tribune. “The chimes that hang were all ringing. It was so loud, I thought a plane had gone down.”
More…
“I heard the plates I didn’t wash from dinner rattle,” said Alice Fabbre of Joliet. “The house shook, but it was very short. At first, I thought it was a snow plow going by.”
“It shook me out bed. I was sleeping and the whole bed was shaking, it was that violent,” said Rex Covington, who lives in Plato Center Township, about five miles west of Elgin. He estimated the tremor lasted 5 or 6 seconds.
“When I called 911, she said they felt the shock too and said their whole building in Geneva shook.”
* Click here for the USGS page. And here are Tweets about the quake.
There’s gotta be a good political analogy here, but I’m too tired. Have at it.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 5:03 am
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I felt it in Marseilles. Thought it was a plow going by or the wind. Definitely shook the house.
Comment by Poppawheelie Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 5:08 am
It freaked me out a bit. The epicenter was just north of where I live. I am in my 30’s and I think I recall an earthquake when I was in maybe 8th grade or so.
Comment by Kane Conservative Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 5:37 am
Woke us up in Romeoville. Sounded like someone was knocking hard on the door, and there was a little shaking. Just…weird.
Comment by Concerned Observer Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 6:03 am
It woke me up in Oak Park. Not as big as the two jolts the last time around, but this time I was pretty sure of what was happening.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 6:17 am
Felt it and thought it was an earthquake when it happened, but it was so short that afterward I wasn’t sure. Nothing fell or anything but was still very freaky for this highrise dweller.
Comment by Hisgirlfriday Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 6:24 am
Btw, thanks for the twitter link.
Lot of kids upset having to go to school when there was a snowstorm AND an earthquake it looks like. Heh.
Comment by Hisgirlfriday Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 6:27 am
Figued it was a plow on the lawn. Felt it for sure.
Turns out it was Madigans reaction to hosting a funder for SLC at ‘exoctic massage’
Comment by oneman Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 6:35 am
That was Lincoln rolling over in his grave
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 6:55 am
I thought it was Madigan shouting “DELATE THAT WORD”!!!
Comment by South of I-80 Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:00 am
I went with the Adlai Stevenson family crypt as the epicenter.
Comment by Gregor Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:10 am
It shook the bed here in Champaign County, just enough to know that it was an earthquake and not a snowplow. The old four poster is a pretty good seismic detector
Comment by Das Man Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:11 am
Clearly, this was the aftershock of Randy “Robocall” Hultgren’s shocking victory over Ethan “Not Such a Great Ballot Name After All” Hastert in the GOP primary for the 14th congressional district.
Comment by Coach Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:26 am
Sleeping electorate stirs enough to wonder, “what happened?” before majority drifts back to slumber for a few more months.
FYI Gregor, the Stevensons are buried in Bloomington. Liked the analogy, tho.
Comment by Nearly Normal Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:26 am
Woke us up, but I also thought it was a plow. By the way Rich, is there any chance we might get a spell-check function for the comments section? I keep having to delate my words when writing about exoctic massages. Thanks!
Comment by Lester Holt's Mustache Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:32 am
In Springfield, actually heard it more than felt it. Could hear things rattling on the shelves.
Comment by ILPundit Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:41 am
All peaceful and quiet in the eastern part of the 10th district! Neither pets nor people woke up at 4:00. Checked around the house this morning and not even a picture on the wall was askew. We’re totally and completely snowed in, though.
Comment by Responsa Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 7:58 am
It was 3.8 as stated by the USGS not 4.3
Comment by POPE Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 8:12 am
So I live fairly close to the epicenter. I felt nothing and didn’t wake up. Everybody at work this morning is describing their experience, but I missed out yet again!!!
I chalk it up to living half a block from an extremely busy rail line. I’ve learned to sleep through all the trains going by throughout the night, so this didn’t phase me at all.
train111
Comment by train111 Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 8:14 am
Somethin’ got me up at 4:00, thought it was just a nature call.
Comment by Dead Head Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 8:16 am
Felt it in Wheaton and thought it was a quake or sno plow and was relieved when i woke up and heard on the news it actually WAS a quake. Very wierd sensation.
Comment by red bird Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 8:41 am
Mr. Stash…
In this case “exoctic massage” was intentional…
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 8:53 am
OneMan -
My apologies. I should have known, and in any case, that’s what I get for calling out spelling errors…
Comment by Lester Holt's Mustache Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:07 am
I bet Fox News will blame it on Obama
Comment by Stones Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:07 am
Mr. Stash,
Maybe it was dilate I wa strying to spell. Well I’m off, I have to go and get my mullet trimed!
Play nice!!
Comment by South of I-80 Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:08 am
I was in Kane County. It woke me up, mostly just the sound. After it stopped 10 seconds later and the alarm didn’t go off, I went back to sleep.
Comment by Obamarama Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:11 am
The quake happened in the middle of the night, when no one was paying attention. It wasn’t until the next morning that we even noticed. Now we are all waiting for the aftershocks. Kind oflike Scott Lee Cohen’s election.
Comment by Matt G. Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:36 am
Imitating California for our budget deficit is one thing; waking me up in the middle of the night with a tremor is just not very nice. I demand that Illinois revert back to its Midwest ways and just concentrate on blanketing the roads with snow.
Comment by Boone Logan Square Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:37 am
“It was 3.8 as stated by the USGS not 4.3″
However, they won’t certify the actual magnitude until February 16th.
Comment by Prognosis Negative Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:39 am
In Oak Park, I had the same experience as Lester Holt. I thought it was a plow. My wife asked at 4 a.m. if I felt the earthquake. I thought she was crazy. Go figure.
Comment by Montrose Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:47 am
He called 911? What was the operator supposed to do?
Comment by PPHS Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:52 am
MSNBC just blamed it on Bush.
I missed it in Downers Grove. Oh well.
Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:54 am
If you follow the link to the USGS page, be sure to follow the “Did you feel it?” link and fill out the short questionnaire. The data collected is very useful, and the more people that complete the form, the better the data set.
Comment by Illinois Geologist Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:57 am
Woke us up in the Riverside area. I thought it was a low flying airplane, my better half knew it to be an earthquake. We actually have earthquake insurance at my spouse’s insistence. (Don’t get me started). I’m scouring the house to find anything we can use it on. So far, nada.
Like Illinois political scandal, the quake can shake the whole house, and yet nothing looks out of place.
Comment by Keep Smiling Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:59 am
Rod had to fire up the super hair dryer for his big day in court.
or
The state has decided to pay it’s bills by selling the ground out from under us.
Comment by dc Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 9:59 am
My 89 year old mother-in-law in Naperville felt it. Her response? “So THAT’S what it was!”
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:06 am
Woke us up 45 miles away. As if two gigantic hands had grasped our whole house and shook it for a few seconds.
Comment by Conservative Republican Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:10 am
Think that was a earthquake, wait till the Blago trial……..
Comment by Wacker Drive Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:22 am
I awoke but didn’t know why, so I plowed the drive and went back to bed.
Interstingly, Illinois seemes bent on catching up to California. They lead us in deficit and payment problems, but we grabbed the earthquake issue to keep up as we seemingly try to surpass them in every category as a disaster state!
Comment by LisleMike Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:28 am
Back in ‘68 it was stronger and centered in southern Illinois.
About six years ago it was centered in Troy Grove about 100 miles from Chicago.
Last night it was just outside Elgin about 50 miles from Chicago.
Better watch out Windy City, (aka Babble-On). God’s closing in on the target and he ain’t happy.
Comment by Irish Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:35 am
I woke up at 4, but didn’t realize it was because of a quake.
Comment by Niles Township Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:43 am
Isn’t that funny. I sort of slept through it but definitely felt the bed shaking and for a second thought it must be an earthquake. Odd, but it was “calming” in a way. (I know. Strange.)
Comment by The Real Anonymous...fka Anonymous Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:56 am
Our windows rattled pretty good in the northwest suburbs but I didn’t feel any shaking. Thought it was a low-flying plane out of O’Hare til I read the news.
Comment by Rob N Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 10:59 am
My husband and I both woke up just moments before 4 AM at the very same moment. The cat who is usually in my bed, clinging to me was hiding somewhere. We had no idea what woke us up. We wandered around the house, looked around, looked out the window - we don’t know why - then went back to bed, dreading the snow cleanup that would have to begin by 6 AM in order to get out of the driveway before 8:15. I guess at our age it takes an aweful lot to really wake us up. Looking back, its pretty weird that we were wandering the house, and looking out of windows. We usually don’t do that. Neither of us knows what we were looking for.
Our son, who is much younger, lives right next to the Brookfield Zoo said he woke up thinking that a snow plow was coming through, had the feeling that something wasn’t right, was worried that a plow had gone off road and was way too close to the house. He said thigs were jiggling and making sounds in his house. He never dreamed it was an earthquake until he saw the morning news. He said his wife and all the children slept right through it. They must take after their Grandparents!
Comment by Say WHAT? Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 11:04 am
There is speculation that animals can sense earthquakes before they happen. I went to be around 1:45 AM and when I did, our dog got out of her bed and went downstairs, which she never does in the middle of the night. I followed her down, thinking she needed to go outside, but she just got into her chair in the family room and went to sleep. It’s the first time she’s ever done that so I’m thinking there may be something to that speculation. Apparently my wife woke up for it but I slept peacefully through it all. We’re in Naperville by the way.
Comment by BigDog Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 11:12 am
I slept through it as usual, but don’t let that stop anyone from sending earthquake aid to DeKalb. If our largest employer — NIU — has to start laying off we’ll need it.
Comment by yinn Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 11:23 am
No, too noisy on the South Side of Chicago to notice anything.
Comment by Third Generation Chicago Native Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 11:33 am
I woke around 4 and my wife heard a noise at that time, at the time I didn’t think much of it but I guess it was probably the earthquake.
Comment by RMW Stanford Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 11:42 am
It got my critters excited, which woke me up. The last one I felt but this one was a snoozer. Lots of trains, buses, and trucks in my part of Chicago.
Comment by Perplexed & Perturbed Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 12:02 pm
Pat Quinn made a pact with the devil to get Cohen off the ticket.
Comment by Pat Robertson Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 12:05 pm
That “TREMOR” was caused by the people of the Land of Lincoln, who are mad as hell, sick of all this BS and just wanted to make sure that their beloved “King Madigan I” and his “Royal Highness The Most Honorable Mayor Daley II” got a good night’s sleep.
Comment by 25th Floor Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 12:33 pm
Gordon Freeman was visiting Fermilab this week… I think he accidentally opened a portal to the next Republican presidential campaign last night.
Comment by Some Guy Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 12:42 pm
SLC rocks political world with appearance on Chicago Tonight. Like the Chicago weather, the storm that is Cohen is headed
to DC.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 1:41 pm
Rich The fact thaat you were awake at 4:00 a.m. and thought the quake was a symptom of sleep depravation concerns me. Please make sure your getting enough sleep.
Comment by Health Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 1:50 pm
Yes, mom.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 1:51 pm
@ Health & Rich
-Rich The fact that you were awake at 4:00 a.m. and thought the quake was a symptom of sleep depravation concerns me. Please make sure your getting enough sleep.
Yeah Rich, Take care of yourself brother! Were you really awake at 4 am?
Comment by 25th Floor Wednesday, Feb 10, 10 @ 1:55 pm