This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: A magnitude 5.2 earthquake roused St. Louis area and downstate Illinois residents just after 4:30 a.m. Friday. The quake, 38 miles from Evansville, Ind. and 128 miles from St. Louis, produced five aftershocks, each in the 2.0 magnitude range and a sixth aftershock that registered 4.6. The New Madrid Fault was not the culprit — this morning's quake originated in the Wabash Valley zone.
- The Evansville (Ind.) Courier Press reports from near the epicenter .
- The USGS report on the first event and its successors.
- Sign up for emailed updates on earthquakes in the region.
- Send your photos of the earthquake to us at events@stlplatform.org.
The Missouri and Illinois departments of transportation are inspecting bridges after Friday morning's earthquake, centered near West Salem, Ill.
By late Friday afternoon, MoDOT inspectors had reported no damage on 2,000 bridges, including nearly 1,000 in the St. Louis area. They were to examine 2,500 bridges in eastern Missouri by day's end, said Jeff Briggs, a spokesman for MoDOT.
MoDot workers were also inspecting Missouri River crossings at Hermann, Jefferson City, Boonville, Rocheport, Miami and Glasgow.
For updates, check MoDOT's Web site: www.modot.org/earthquakeresponse/
IDOT inspectors are checking bridges within a 50-mile radius of the epicenter, and, so far, there have been no reports of major damage, said Patti Thompson, communications manager for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
Initial inspections by Illinois emergency management officials found minor damage to some older buildings and chimneys in Edwards, Wabash, Hamilton, Lawrence and Randolph counties.
