Mild 5.2 Earthquake Shakes Up Chicago

A moderate earthquake in southern Illinois was enough to wake far-off Chicago-area residents this morning, but no major damage was reported, the Chicago Tribune notes. The shake-up reached 5.2 on the Richter scale, shy of an area record of 5.4, but enough to move furniture. “For people in central Illinois, this is a big deal. It's not like California,” said a local man. Residents of Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Des Moines also felt the tremor. (More Chicago stories.)