An earthquake tremor this morning registering 5.2 was felt by residents across Kosciusko County who were awakened or already up getting ready to start the day.
The earthquake struck southeastern Illinois at 5:36 this morning, according to Indiana Geological Survey.
The epicenter was located approximately 5 miles northwest of Mt. Carmel, Ill.; 38 miles north-northwest of Evansville, Ind.; and 128 miles east of St. Louis, Mo., according to the IGS Web site.Locally, Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent Dennis Pletcher said the highway department has crews out today surveying the county for damages from the earthquake.
"We have crews out everywhere in the county, we haven't seen anything yet," Pletcher said this morning.
Pletcher said the department is checking bridges and roads for damages.
Central Dispatch reported they received about 15 phone calls from residents this morning. Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock reported he received no reports this morning of damage from the earthquake.
The earthquake was felt throughout Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, and as far away as Missouri, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to IGS.
Previously, a 5.2 earthquake hit Indiana a few miles west of Vincennes on June 10, 1987. Another earthquake, with an estimated magnitude 5.0, centered a few miles west of Evansville, occurred June 18, 2002.
Local residents felt this morning's earthquake.
Lois Click, who lives on Lakeview Drive in Winona Lake behind the Dairy Queen on Winona Avenue, said she was up at 5:30 this morning when the earthquake shook the top of her home. She said the tremor caused picture frames and books to fall off her daughter's dresser.
"The earthquake woke my daughter and great-granddaughter up, and my great-granddaughter was crying, jumping up and down and scared to death," Click said.
Click said she did not know for sure there was an earthquake until she heard it on the radio when she was driving her great-granddaughter to school.
Click said the last time she experienced an earthquake was in 2002 when she visited California.
Shelley Rainford, a Valparaiso resident, said she didn't feel, but heard the earthquake at 4:40 CDT this morning.
She gets up at 4:30 to get ready for work at Lake City Bank in Warsaw because there is a time difference from Warsaw.
"I walked in my kitchen about 4:40 a.m. this morning and heard a rattle, but didn't feel anything," Rainford said.
She said she didn't think of anything about the rattle until she heard about it on the news. She said she previously experienced an earthquake in the spring of 1987 when she was a student at Purdue North Central University, Westville.
Paul Wiseman, South Brook Park, Warsaw, said he felt the earthquake this morning.
"I was still in bed at 5:40 this morning and heard my doors rattling and my bed shook for about 10 to 15 seconds," Wiseman said.
He said his wife was watching the news and informed him there had been an earthquake.
Sheena Deaton, who lives in Warsaw, said she did not feel the earthquake this morning.
She said she received a call about 7:45 a.m. from her relatives who live on Chapman Lake stating they had felt movement from the earthquake.
Kristi Parker, a Pierceton resident, said she had no idea there was an earthquake and slept through it before getting up for work at 6:45 today.
