THE ILLINOIS EARTHQUAKE OF 1968

TIMES LEADER Novemeber 14,1968
  EARTH QUAKE DAMAGE PROBABLE AT 90 PERCENT OF COUNTY BUILDING
   
   Hamilton County public buildings apparently bore the brunt of earthquake damage 
Saturday, although an engineer told the Times-Leader at least 90 percent of the 
structures in the county had some damage, chiefly minor.
   In McLeansboro, the Courthouse, the First Methodist Church, the McCoy Library, 
and the township high school all reported damage in the wake of the earth tremor 
that shook buildings and their occupants for an estimated ten seconds at about 
11 a.m. Satur day.
   A total of 19 windows were broken in the girls gymnasium at the high school, 
according to principal James Sobecki. A survey also revealed plaster cracked in 
most of the rooms at MTHS and inside walls cracked in the girls gym.
At the First United Methodist Church, a section of brick and concrete block fell 
from a tower at one of the highest points of the building, striking the roof and 
bounding to the ground and sidewalk on the north side. The brick in a chimney was 
so badl y disarrayed that the fire department pulled it down to prevent accidents. 
There was also some damage to the front facade of the church.
   As a safety precaution, services were cancelled at the church Sunday and some of 
the congregation attended services at the Concord Methodist Church also pastored 
by Rev. Roy Cole, but mid-week prayer services were held Wednesday without incident.
Plaster was badly cracked in practically every room of the second and third floor 
of the Hamilton County Courthouse, but there did not appear to be any major 
structural damage. "We had a big cleanup job," Sheriff Paul Darnell said. In the 
courtroom, a large crack appeared in the ceiling immediately above the judge's 
chair and elsewhere in the same room a ventilator near the floor was neatly outlined 
on three sides in the wall on the stairway leading from the second to the third floor.
Plastor also fell and a chimney was damaged at the Library.
   Chimneys were big causalties of the earthquake. Many either fell or were left 
out of shape and about to tumble. Three chimneys were reportedly down at the 
Mrs. F. R. Wilson home on North Pearl Street and some roof damage apparently 
resulted.
   Firemen were called shortly after the earthquake to an East Main Street address 
where the home owner thought his furnace had exploded. It had not, although many 
other person apparently shared the same belief at first.
Customers and clerks alike at public square businesses in McLeansboro emptied 
shortly after the initial shock. Strangely enough, many people in cars felt the 
shock little enough to notice it. Many, told about the earthquake's severity, 
found it hard to believe.
   Grocery stores unanimously had a clean-up job to do when glass jars were sent 
toppling to the floor by the earthquake. Almost miraculously, no one in the county 
was reported injured as a result.
Windows were broken or cracked at both the Hamilton County Lumber Co. and the 
Wright's Lumber Co. in McLeansboro. In Dale, the Johnson residence reportedly 
had heavy damage.
Submitted by: Sheila Cadwalader




Personal Accounts of the Earthquake

   In 1968 I was in the radio station in Mcleansboro on the morning of the earth 
quake. I had just filled a thirty cup percolator with water and was crossing a 
room to brew coffee the rumble came first then the building and ground started 
to shake all four walls of the building were moving in opposite directions and I 
was frozen in my tracks not able to move. I glanced out the window to see my car 
bouncing down the parking area for about 20 feet stopping against a fence. The 
tremor lasted about 50 seconds and then subsided. The station of course was 
knocked off the air.. and we ran out to make sure the guide wires on our broadcast 
tower were still intact.. luckily all that was damaged was an overturned tape 
rack and records scattered about the production room that had been shaken from 
their shelves. 
   When we made contact with the State Police we learned the guake was centered 
in the Mississippi River near Grand Tower and had traveled southeast through 
Southern Illinois under the hill on which the radio station was located and ended 
in the vacinity of Mcleansboro proper. There was quite a bit of damage in the 
town and surronding area. I have experienced tornados and hurricanes in my 
lifetime.. but I dont think I have ever had such a helpless feeling as I did 
that morning in 1968. 
Skip Williams, West Frankfort IL

 
   My Mom (Alma Heard) & I both worked for Leroy & Tiny Williams who owned Reaban's
(later name changed to Will's Drive In). Leroy was standing in back door of 
restaurant smoking a cigarette. Shaking started & the huge AC above door  started 
moving over him. Mom just calmly walked past the plate glass windows(they were on 
3 sides of building looked out front door and said we are just having an earthquake. 
It was reported the central point was under building next door to the restaurant. 
The restaurant was on S.E. corner of square.
Susan HEARD ARMSTRONG


   We were in the library at Southeast Missouri State University. The books started 
swaying and we had our oldest son with us at the time. We grabbed him up and head-
ed down the stairs to the main floor. When we got down the stairs, it had stopped.
Anna NEWELL, Southeast MO 






THE ILLINOIS EARTHQUAKE OF 1974


1974 Apr 3 23:05 4.3M Intensity VI*
Southeast Illinois ( 38.549N 88.072W )
   Minor damage, generally in the form of cracked and broken chimneys, 
occurred in Wabash County. At West Salem, a few chimneys and tombstones 
were shaken down and other chimneys were damaged. Slight damage occurred 
at many towns in Indiana and Illinois. Also felt in Arkansas, Iowa, 
Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.



THE ILLINOIS EARTHQUAKE OF 2008

"Shook Southern Illinois early Friday"
Friday 18 April 2008


   A moderate earthquake occurred at 4:37:00 AM (CDT) on Friday, April 18, 2008 .
The magnitude 5.2 event occurred 8 km (5 miles) NNE (14 degrees) of Bellmont, IL .
The hypocentral depth is 12 km ( 7 miles).

   The preliminary magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurred at 4:37 am Central Daylight 
Time and the epicenter of the earthquake was about three miles below ground,
centered about 38 miles north-northwest of Evansville, IN., 128 miles east of 
St. Louis, MO. or  6 miles northwest of Mount Carmel, IL.

   It occurred in an area known seismically as the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone. 
Today's event is the strongest earthquake in Southern Illinois since November 1968, 
when a 5.4 earthquake occurred.

   Classified as "moderate," today's event caused some damage and was followed by 
aftershocks, the largest a M4.6 that occurred at 10:15 am Central Daylight Time. 
Of much greater concern, however, is the potential for the adjacent New Madrid 
seismic zone to generate severe earthquakes. During the winter of 1811-1812, a 
series of three very large earthquakes — the strongest earthquakes to strike the 
lower 48 states during historic times — devastated the area and were felt 
throughout most of the nation. Occurring only a few weeks apart on Dec. 16, 
Jan. 13, and Feb. 7, they generated hundreds of aftershocks, some severely 
damaging by themselves, which continued for years.

   According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there were few reports of damage 
immediately after the predawn quake. In Louisville, Kentucky, three was rubble 
in a street after a cornice fell off a brick building there. 
 


                                   News Report
   On April 18th, 2008 a 5.2 earthquake struck near the southern borders of 
Illinois and Indiana. The epicenter was 19 miles SE of Olney, Illinois - close 
to the Ohio/Wabash rivers. A second earthquake followed less than 6 hours later 
just north of the region of the previous quake and registered a 4.6.


A light earthquake occurred at 10:14:16 AM (CDT) on Friday, April 18, 2008 .
The magnitude 4.6 event occurred 11 km (7 miles) NNE (19 degrees) of Bellmont, IL .
The hypocentral depth is 10 km ( 6 miles). 





Personal Accounts of the Earthquake


   We were awaken to the sound of things shaking this morning, sat straight up
in bed and said what's that. My feet hit the floor at 4:41 a.m. and down the
hallway I went into the front room. The sound of things shaking in the china
cabinet and the picture window rattling add up to one thing "Earthquake".
Looked out the window and house lights were coming on all over the
neighborhood.
   The news is saying it was a 5.4, up in Edwards County (West Salem area). The 
one we had here in Southern Illinois the summer of 1967, felt bigger to me. but 
it was centered  a lot closer to us than this one.
   There was a smaller one in the 1980's but I was underground in a coal mine
and didn't feel that one at all. Let's pray the New Madrid fault isn't going to 
act up again.
Bill LEVANTI, West Frankfort, Illinois


   We were awoken to a shaking house this morning too, here in Elizabethtown, KY. 
At first I thought it was my 6 year old climbing into bed with me and I looked
around realized it wasn't and just thought then it was something happening at 
Ft. Knox since we live so close to it. My daughter came in my room around 6 and 
said we had an earthquake..... I was like, no way. We personally have not exper-
ience any damage but down town Louisville has some minor damage to some buildings.
Cristi SCOVEL, Elizabethtown, KY.


   I was woke up a bit ago to a load rumbling and then all of the sudden the whole 
house started shaking. I grab the kids and ran to the basement with them as fast 
as I could thinking there was a massive tornado over top of us. The windows were 
shaking and rattling so bad I though the were going to break. One it was over I 
went outside to have a look and it was as calm as could be. So this got me to 
thinking,how could it have been a tornado??? I have lived through one tornado in 
Florida, so to me it was the same sound and shaking going on. My next thought was 
an earthquake, but what was the loud rumbling sound.
   I am in DuQuoin Illinois and my other halfs G-ma is in Murphysboro and she 
called to say she was awoken by it.
   We all know around here is the New Madrid fault, but never thought much of it 
till now.
Nanette RILEY, DuQuoin, IL


   I felt the quake all the way in Godfrey Ill where i live my husband & I both 
felt he thought we were having a storm, and much to our surprise it was an earth-
quake very creepy to here things rattling in our never been thru anything ever 
like this.
Susie INGRAM


   We felt it all the way up here in northern Illinois.  It started with a low 
shaking, the a feeling like the house was "rolling", then harder shaking and then 
it lessened and stopped.  It lasted for at least a minute.
Kim


I live in Grayson County Kentucky (about 70 miles south of Louisville) and it 
woke me & my husband up at 4:39 AM - the windows in my house rattled!!! 
Cathy SCHULTZ

No way I would be up this early for too many reasons..but we had a 
quake!  Had to be.  I was feeling the bed shaking..thought Brutus had 
come into the room and was leaning against the bed while scratching 
or something (big dog people can relate...) and it got worse, and 
worse, and we both popped up out of the bed and got out of the 
room!!  It's 4:43 a.m. now so this was at ~4:38 a.m. and lasted about 
40 seconds.  Everything was rattling!!  Not a train/truck or anything 
on the road...no noise except the rattling of the lamp and of course 
my BP sending a swishing sound through my arteries!!
Trish, Philo Ill.


It woke us up about 4:36 this morning here in Grayville (which is rather 
close to the epicenter in West Salem, IL); lasted for about 40 seconds.  It 
knocked some pictures off of some walls; shook the doors of the medicine 
cabinet open & the contents spilled into the sink; our town's water pumping 
station apparently had some damage but is repaired now and we lost power for 
a while.  However, WE don't appear to have any house damage; haven't been 
uptown to see what other people are reporting.  I hope that the New Madrid 
Fault goes back to sleep.
follow up:
So far here in Grayville, a building housing a beauty shop uptown lost a couple 
of bricks.  I was told at the bank yesterday that the Super 8 Motel here had some 
damage but that was an unconfirmed report.
Carol GARBO, Grayville, IL

I live in Florissant Mo. I didn't feel the quake this morning but my birds were 
going crazy and my son said his bed was shaking . About 10:15am we had a after 
shock. Right before the aftershock, I heard a boom, my birds went crazy, the 
water in the fish tanks started to sway and everything started to shake. It sure 
is unsettling. 
Sandy GENTRY


I was on the phone with my best friend and distant cousin who lives in Havana, IL 
- north of Beardstown and south of Peoria when the aftershock hit. All her plants 
were shaking and one even moved off the table it was sitting on. It lasted about 
45 seconds. She woke up with shaking this early this morning. Her dog didn't seem 
to notice anything but with this after shock the dog howled and she said the birds 
disappeared.
Sara HEMP


We felt it here in Eastern Indiana and in Dayton, Ohio it is all over the news. 
People felt it there too. That’s over 300 miles from the epicenter!
Michelle Kennedy Byrd, Eastern Indiana



I've been through several minor earthquakes in Southern Illinois and Southeast MO. 
We are on the New Madrid fault. Yes, I felt the one this morning. It woke me and 
I said to my husband, "What was that?" Then I realized it was an earthquake. I 
looked at the clock and it was 4:38 a.m. on our clock. It shook our bed and the 
windows rattled. Hope that's all for a long while.
Anna NEWELL

I was up reading email this morning at 5.40s when the quake it, to me it felt 
like a large gust of wind hit the house and sounded a little like bomb wind. 
with no explosion sound, just a pressure of it. The desk and computer monitors 
rattled a lot. No noticable damage to the house. In the car when the second one 
hit so we didn't feel it. didn't learn of the 2nd one until i read my mail again 
this afternoon.
Lonnie, Bedford Indiana


Gail and I live in Mulkeytown - about 12 miles from Benton west.  I first 
thought it was hail hitting the house when it woke me up and Gail said
he thought somone was banging on the laundryroom door.  Then he went in 
the living room and saw the blinds shaking.  We do no remember that the
dog acted very cowed the evening before.  They say animals can feel when 
something is going to happen.
Our daughter's family live in Ewing and my son-in-law said their house &
floor vibrated and the noise was like when the washing machine gets out of
balance.  
I was cutting material when the next shock came and I thought someone had 
come in the door at my shop.  Felt strange when there was no one around either 
door. Then I got a call from Gail at General Cable in Du Quoin that they
felt that one and a fellows tool box almost turned over.
Sorry to be so long winded.  But this is from the other side of the county.
Barb Spencer, Mulkeytown, Illinois


I was at a table in the high school at 10:15 a.m. this morning and the shaking 
started again. (after shock). The young adults weren't the same the rest of the 
day. I'm glad we had a short day at school today. ;-)
WM "Bill" LEVANTI, West Frankfort, Illinois


Monday, April 20-2008
The earthquakes still continue today, although the are holding around the 4.+
category. Makes you wonder if something bigger is still yet to come. 
Nanette Riley, DuQuoin, IL.