Strong Earthquake Rocks Midwest

WEST SALEM, Ill. (AP) - A strong, 5.4-magnitude earthquake has
rattled wide parts of the Midwest.
It was centered in southern Illinois near the town of West
Salem, but was felt as far away as Milwaukee, 350 miles to the
north. Skyscrapers shook in Chicago's Loop, 240 miles north of the
epicenter, and in Indianapolis, 160 miles to the northeast. People
in Cincinnati and St. Louis also felt the earth shake.
A resident of Philo, Illinois, south of Champaign, says the
house was shaking and the windows were rattling. And he says for
central Illinois, it was "a big deal."
There are no reports of any injuries or significant damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey says this morning's quake happened in
a region known as the Illinois basin-Ozark dome, which does not
usually get quakes. The biggest on record, also a 5.4, happened in
1968.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)