What the H@$# was that??!!??!!

Today was a first!
We felt the earthquake that originated in southern Illinois early this morning!
I woke up to the house shaking... now, we have our laundry room upstairs, so it's not unusual to feel a little shaking upstairs during the spin cycle, so that was my first thought, that I was feeling my load I put in before going to bed (I didn't realize what time it was). But, then it got pretty strong and I realized the whole entire house was shaking, not just the floor upstairs. It lasted about 30-45 seconds (which seemed like forever when I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on!) Bridget freaked out and was crying. Aaron and I just looked at each other, neither of us really sure what had just happened. We looked outside to see if there were any indications others had felt what we had. We did see a few lights on across the street, so likely the kids had a similar reaction as Bridget. It's times like these we find out just how many bodies we can fit in our queen size bed!
When we got up about an hour later to start getting ready for school, I came straight to the Internet to see if it was in fact an earthquake we'd experienced. Here are a few of news reports that I found:

IndyStar.com

Earthquake rattles Indiana awake
Star and wire service report
Posted: April 18, 2008

An earthquake shook homes and rattled nerves across parts of Indiana and the Midwest this morning.
The magnitude 5.4 quake was centered southwest of Vincennes, about six miles east-southeast of West Salem, Ill., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Police dispatchers and the National Weather Service said they received numerous calls from people who felt their homes moving at 5:37 a.m.

No major damage was immediately reported, though part of a building's facade fell in Louisville.

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle says there are no immediate reports of damage. Ringle says he was shaken out of his bed in the Evansville area by the earthquake.

The earthquake shook tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis.

Professor Michael Hamburger of Indiana University’s Department of Geological Sciences, said it was the strongest quake in the area since one of a similar magnitude near Carbondale, Ill., in 1968.

“What we’re seeing today is fairly typical in this area. It seems like we get earthquakes about this size every 15 years,” Hamburger told WTHR-TV (Channel 13), the Star’s newsgathering partner.

WISHTV8.com

We felt it: earthquake rocks Central Indiana
Posted: April 18, 2008 06:00 AM

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH/AP) -- The U.S. Geologic Survey reports that an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 has struck the Midwest. It happened at 5:36 a.m.

The USGS Web site said the quake was centered near West Salem, Illinois, or about 40 miles northwest of Evansville, Indiana.

The earthquake was felt as far north as Kokomo, Rochester and Warsaw in Indiana, as well as in Evansville, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. It shook tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis.

"I was awake when I started feeling the house shake. My husband was leaving for work and said he felt it too. We do not have any damage that I have found, but we do live in Brown County at Sweetwater Lake, and we have many trees that I will have to check," said Shannon on the 24-Hour News 8 comment forums.

"Very exciting! It woke us up! You could hear rumbling outside and the mirror attached to the dresser shake. No damage at this point," said a Fishers resident.

"I felt it too. At first I thought it was wind, but thought how does a house shake that long without falling down? It seemed to last at least a minute. I though I was dreaming. My cat had waken me up about 20 minutes before it happened meowing weirdly and is still freaking out. A few things fell off shelves but we all are okay. Good to know I am not crazy, the house really did move," said Amanda Smith from Illinois.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but 24-Hour News 8 has received phone calls reporting some damage. Residents in Princeton, Indiana have reported damage inside their homes. 911 services were reportedly knocked out for an hour and were restored around 6:45 a.m. in Gibson County.

"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."

The quake shook skyscrapers in Chicago's Loop, 240 miles north of the epicenter, and even in Milwaukee, Wis., 350 miles north of the epicenter. Residents of Cincinnati, St. Louis and in Michigan also reported feeling the earth shake.

The quake occurred in the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region that covers parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas and stretches from Indianapolis and St. Louis to Memphis, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle says there are also no immediate reports of damage. Ringle says he was shaken out of his bed in the Evansville area by the earthquake.

The Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake happened 102 years ago today at 5:12 a.m.

Michigan News

Earthquake centered on Illinois/Indiana border felt in Michigan
by The Grand Rapids Press staff and wire reports
Friday April 18, 2008, 6:12 AM

A strong earthquake that rattled parts of southern Illinois and Indiana early this morning was felt in the Grand Rapids area, about 320 miles away.

The quake, given a preliminary magnitude of 5.4, occurred about 6 miles from Mount Carmel, Ill., and about 131 miles east of St. Louis, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It took place about 2 miles underground and struck about 5:36 a.m., USGS said.

"It shook our house where it woke me up," said David Behm of Philo, Ill., 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."

The quake also shook skyscrapers in Chicago's Loop and tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis. It was felt in Milwaukee and Cincinnati as well.

Irvetta McMurtry of Cincinnati 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."

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle in Evansville, about 38 miles from the epicenter, said there were no immediate reports of damage.

A 5.4 quake can cause considerable damage.

Grand Rapids police dispatchers felt the building shake around 5:30.

Lt. Larry Frye said a couple of dispatchers who work on the fourth floor of Grand Rapids headquarters called him to find out if he felt anything in his lower floor office. He did not notice any tremors.

The USGS received reports from all over West Michigan, including Grand Rapids, Ada, Caledonia, Holland, Wayland and Trufant

The quake occurred in the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region that covers parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas and stretches from Indianapolis and St. Louis to Memphis, according to the USGS.

The organization's Web site said earthquakes occur irregularly in the area, and that the largest historical earthquake in the region -- also a magnitude 5.4 -- caused damage in southern Illinois in 1968.

Three of the most powerful quakes felt in North America struck in the region.

In 1811-12, a series of quakes along the New Madrid Fault in Missouri, near the border with Tennessee, measured 7.8, 8.0 and 8.1, which is 10 times more intense than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. They devastated the sparsely populated area, and reportedly caused the Mississippi River to flow backward for a time.

The quakes, occurring from from Dec. 16 to Feb. 7, were felt as far away as Boston. Damage was reported as far away as Charleston, S.C., and Washington, D.C.
The earthquake is being monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey.

-- Press writers Dan Hawkins, Dave Odette and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Louisville, Kentucky News

5.2 magnitude earthquake felt across Louisville
THE COURIER-JOURNAL • APRIL 18, 2008

The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck the region this morning. The geological survey reported earlier this morning that it was a 5.4 magnitude earthquake but has downgraded that as of 8 a.m.

The quake was centered six miles southeast of West Salem, Ill., about 45 miles northwest of Henderson, Ky., according to the geologic survey.

Lousville city officials planned to hold a press conference at 9 a.m. to address the city's response to the incident.

In Louisville people were shaken out of bed at about 5:40 a.m. and shaking was felt in the Highlands, Eastern Jefferson County, Oldham County and downtown.

While lots of people felt the earthquake, the incident does not seem to have caused any major damage, injuries, disruption of utility service or similar problems, said Doug Hamilton, executive director of Louisville Metro Emergency Management.

MetroSafe Communications dispatchers handled a large volume of calls from residents who wanted to know if what they felt had been an earthquake, Hamilton said.

"Everyone just wanted to confirm what they had felt," he said.

The only damage call received was that some of the bricks on the outside of a building at 309 W. Kentucky St. were shaken loose, but no one was injured, a dispatch supervisor said.

The quake was also felt elsewhere.

"It shook our house where it woke me up," said David Behm of Philo, Ill., 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."

Kentucky State Police dispatcher Natalie Alsip at the post in Hendersonville, just across the Ohio River from Evansville, Ind., said telephone calls poured in to the post following the quake early Friday and one man reported cracked plaster at his home.

A dispatcher at the KSP post in Mayfield said there were many phone calls from Western Kentucky locations, but no indication of injury or serious damage.

The quake also shook tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis, about 160 miles northeast of the epicenter.

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle in Evansville said there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake occurred in the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region that covers parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas and stretches from Indianapolis and St. Louis to Memphis, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The organization's Web site said earthquakes occur irregularly in the area, and that the largest historical earthquake in the region _ also a magnitude 5.4 _ caused damage in southern Illinois in 1968.

Indiana Earthquake Information